Always With You!
by SpanishMonkeys
Summary: I was just an ordinary person, living an ordinary life. Until a bunch of hot men personified as Nordic countries materialized in my house. Then everything in my life was turned upside-down as Denmark held onto my ankles. NEW CHAPTER: I Love to Procrastinate
1. 1: It Has to Start With Something

**A/N:** So, this is my first actual fanfic that makes sense in a while. :P Enjoy the slight logic while it lasts.

The first few hours of my day were so boring, a bunch of hot men personified as Nordic countries materialized in my house. Yep. That's how I like to tell my stories. Brief and to the point. Then again, you're probably wondering HOW they got there, and what I did with them. For that, you'll just have to jump to Chapter 2. So that means I just wasted 10 seconds of your life. Sorry.


	2. 2: Lol!

Ha ha. Fooled you. It's a secret.


	3. 3: The Real Beginning

I'm sorry. If that chapter was a bit of a rip off, I'll tell you it here:

It started on a typical Saturday. Woke up at 7:00, (Because I'm an early bird like that), and spent 2 hours in my bed reading fanfiction on my iPod.

The only fanfiction I read is Hetalia, the best anime out there. Then again, that's probably why you clicked on this story in the first place. Anyway, the best characters, in my opinion, are the Nordics. They're like brothers who actually get along (sometimes)! But in fanart, they're usually depicted as loving siblings who care for each other. Unlike mine.

But enough about them. I'm 19 and living on my own, with the exception of my partner, Koda. Okay, he might be a dog, but he's a loyal puppy. Koda's a husky, which makes him even cuter.

I stumbled downstairs, pulling my trademark Superman shirt over my head. I was greeted by a loud bark.

"Morning to you too, Koda," I said, patting his head. I made myself the usual cereal, listening to Steve Jablonsky's Arrival to Earth soundtrack from the movie Transformers. Why? Because you should motivate yourself for the day with some epic music.

I sat at the table, blasting the music from the computer, across the kitchen. I felt like eating my cereal was the bravest thing I'd ever done. So when I was done breakfast I put the song on repeat and marched around the house yelling

"Get to the Cube, Koda!" or

"I am Optimus Prime. Surrender now or prepare to fight fight fight! Oh wait, that's Pokémon." The dog was used to this, though. Thank God the neighbours are heavy sleepers.

After I got bored of that, I hopped on the computer to finish the story I was working on. My editor is scary. She never smiles, and always looks like she's about to pull out that knife I'm sure she's got hidden on her person somewhere. Anyway, I finished a few chapters and went back to reading more fanfiction.

I put down my iPod a few hours later and glanced at my clock, then out the window. The clock read 3:40, and the window read stormy. Black clouds hung drearily over my neighbourhood, and didn't look like they were about to go bother someone else soon. Wind howled across my barren backyard, with the exception of the crab apple tree swaying dejectedly. For a split second, I saw a flash of lightning, with the thunder following not long after.

"Great," I muttered, "Say good bye to the power." I paused. "GOOD BYE!" I shouted. Just then, my room went dark. Silence. I bursted out laughing. Walking down the stairs, I heard more thunder. This time, it sounded like a volcano erupting. As I was lighting candles, I saw Koda sitting on the couch, gazing out the window at the rain that was pouring down. Koda always liked storms. That's what was different about him. I've always liked storms too. They gave me a feeling of peace. That's another reason why Koda and I are meant for each other.

The lit candles give an eerie orange glow to the house. The storm didn't help either. It was almost as if I were getting ready to perform England's demon summoning spell. Which gave me an idea. I think you know what I did next. Halfway through, Koda hid under the couch.

"For the sake of my terrible revenge, I'll cast a curse with all my power!  
I summon thee from the distant earth! Come forth!" I shouted. Of course, I didn't expect anything to happen. Boy was I wrong.

The floor lit up with a brilliant light, illuminating the living room. I shielded my eyes from the glare. As the light faded away, a flash of lighting flooded the house, blinding me yet again.

"AARRGHH!" I exclaimed.

"AARRGHH!" Another voice exclaimed.

"AARRGHH!" I yelled back, thinking someone had gotten into my house.

"AARRGHH!" The voice replied, just as panicky as mine.

I opened my eyes as the glare died down. The people standing in front of me were none other than the Nordics.

"AARRGHH!" I yelled again, but this time because my favourite characters were actually in my house.

"AARRGHH!" Denmark yelled again.

"AARRGHH! AaARRghHGH!" Being the random me, I went up to Iceland, still yelling, and put a bunch of sparkly heart and rainbow stickers on him that I found in my pocket. Don't ask me how they got there. Of course, I just got a bunch of weird looks. But I'm used to that. Iceland brushed the stickers off as if they were some sort of virus. Cue the awkward silence.

"Soo….um…Hello….?" Finland stammered.

"Hai Finland!" I replied. The Nordics looked flabbergasted. Iceland flinched.

"You….know who we are?" Finland asked incredulously.

"Yep! The anime fandom spreads quickly." Iceland flinched again. I noticed.

"Hey, you scared of me, or what?" I asked him.

"A little," Iceland whispered.

"Ah, don't worry, a lot of people are," I said, waving an arm. "I apologize for the stickers. I tend to do that when I get excited. Oh, by the way, my name's Sandy."

"Nice to meet you, Sandy!" Finland chirped, obviously relived that I wasn't an official escapee from an asylum.

"So, I guess you know us," Norway commented.

"Yes. And if you're wondering how you got here, just keep in mind that I have nothing to do with it. I did not get a really stupid idea. I did not chant England's demon summoning spell…..Wait. You're not demons in disguise, are you?"

"Last time we checked, no!" Denmark exclaimed.

"You know magic?" Norway inquired, sounding a tiny bit interested.

"Nooooooooyeeah. Yes. Yes I do…Okay. I did accidentally summon you. I honestly didn't expect it to work."

"Now what are we going to do?" Finland shrieked. Sweden put a comforting arm around his shoulders. Whoops. I forgot Sweden was there. He's so quiet!

"Weeeeellllll, you guys could stay with me until we figure out how to get you back. If you want to, that is. I'm not saying you have to or anything, I'm just saying it's a possibility, you could go somewhere else if you-"

"Sure, we'll stay with you!" Denmark interrupted my nervous rant. Norway glared at him. But the other Nordics nodded in agreement. Iceland seemed a little reluctant, though.

"Right then! Good thing I live alone. With the exception of Koda, of course. Can't forget about him."

"Koda?" Sweden asked. I love his voice. That awesome deepness. I didn't even know 'deepness' was a word. Hmm. You learn something new every day I guess.

"Yeah, Koda. KODA!" I yelled. With a bark, the husky bounded down the stairs. I don't even know how he got up there without me noticing. "This is Koda," I said, patting his head affectionately. Noticing the newcomers, Koda started sniffing them out in turn. Sweden reached down to pat Koda's head. His tail wagged.

"He likes you," Finland commented to Sweden."

"Hmhm," Sweden mumbled.

"Um, where are we?" Norway asked.

"You mean country? You're in Canada."

"Where?" The Nordics chorused at the same time. I gave a groan of frustration.

"You know, hockey, maple, aboot, polar bears, igloos, eh?"

"Oh, there." I scowled.

"Clearly, we're going to have to set some rules. Rule number one: We cannot let anyone else know you're here. Why? Because I'll have fangirls and reporters knocking my walls down. Reporters: wanting to annoy me, and fangirls: wanting to kill me. Rule number two: No funny business." I glared at Sweden. He blushed. "Rule number three: NEVER. FORGET. CANADA. Or else I will rip every finger off of you and feed them to Koda." Koda barked, looking as cute as ever. I swore I saw Norway give an impressed look, before he wiped it off his face. "I think that's it. Oh yeah, beware my cooking. I'm part British." At that, the Nordics gulped.

"Where will we sleep?" Iceland inquired.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. Um… I have a couple spare bedrooms. Up the stairs…" My voice trailed off as I wandered up the stairs. The Nordics followed. "The room at the end of the hall toward the left is my room. The room right next to it someone can have. The one beside us right now is also open. There are two more rooms in the basement. Two of you will have to share a room."

"'M sh'rin' a room with F'nl'nd," Sweden stated in that usual intimidating way. Finland gulped and blushed. I glanced at a random clock.

"Oh crap, it's like 10. Where did the time go? Oh well. I wasn't hungry anyway. Hah. Hungary. Anywho, Imma goin ta bed. See ya in the morning!"

"NIGHT!" Denmark shouted.

"You're so annoying," Norway complained quietly.

"Well, good night to you too!" Finland chirped.

"G''d n'ght," Sweden's voice rumbled.

"Góða nótt Sandy," Iceland muttered as he went back downstairs, silently claiming one of the the basement bedrooms as his. Norway quickly followed, not wanting to sleep on the same floor as Denmark. The spiky haired nation went into the room right next to us. Sweden and Finland went into the room next to mine. I finally skipped into my room, squealing on the inside. I hurridly got into my pjamas and climbed into bed, thinking about my day. That was the only the beginning of what was to come...


	4. 4: Sweden Loves Caramel and Dancing

I woke up at 7:00 yet again. Read my iPod as usual. When I went down to breakfast, I stopped halfway down the stairs. I stood there, thinking about how I'm so used to living alone. Should I continue to make breakfast for myself? Or should I wait for the Nordics to wake up? I stood there for Koda knows long, tearing myself apart. Not literally, of course. That would hurt.

My inner musings were stopped as someone tapped me on the shoulder. I whipped around, almost slapping Norway in the process.

"Crap! Norway, you scared me!" I whispered.

"Sorry," was all he said.

"How did you even get up there when you sleep in the basement?"

"….."

"…"

"…."

"…."

"All right, you win," Norway caved.

"Yay!" I whispered happily and skipped (quietly) into the kitchen.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked Norway. He gulped, obviously remembering my warning yesterday.

"Ummm, what do you have?"

"Well, I have an abundance of cereals, eggs….um…I think there's bacon somewhere, and I WOULD have pancake mix if I wasn't so terrible at cooking."

"I'll have cereal."

"Alright, well, there's cereal in the pantry." Norway dug around in the ocean of cereal I had, pulling out cornflakes. There was a bowl and spoon waiting for him, as I tried to decide between Cheerios, or Rice Krispies. By the time I dragged the Cheerios out, Norway was sitting at the barstool, quietly eating.

"Hey, do you have any coffee?" He asked. Setting my bowl down beside him, I replied

"Yeah, in that cupboard there. My siblings keep giving me coffee, even though they know full well I hate it." Norway gave me a sketchy look as he reached up. The rest of the meal was silent until Denmark walked, sorry-JUMPED down the stairs.

"The AWESOME me is here!" Denmark shouted.

"SHHHHH!" Norway and I hissed at him simultaneously.

"Nah, Finland and Sweden's already up," Denmark said airily.

"What about Iceland?" I asked.

"Right here," He replied, trying to squeeze past Denmark, who was posing right in front of the basement door.

"Oh, sorry, man!" Denmark laughed, moving out of the way. "Didn't see you there!" Just then, Sweden and Finland came down.

"Good morning!"

"M'rn'ng." Oh god, I love Sweden's voice! If only he would talk more…. Anyway, I relayed what I said to Norway earlier to the rest of the Nordics. A few minutes later, everyone was sitting down, enjoying whatever they made. Sort of.

A few hours later, and by hours, I mean the entire day, everyone was sitting in the living room, watching TV. Well, Denmark was watching TV. Finland was playing with Koda on the floor, and Sweden was going over some random plans he had on his lap. Norway was bothering Iceland, and I was singing He's a Pirate.

"Da da DA DA, da da DA DA, da da DA DA da da dada!"

Iceland ignored Norway for a bit to glance at me.

"Geez, you're like Denmark, almost."

"Sometimes," I replied.

"Can't you sing something else?" Iceland asked.

"Alright! Um…." I stood up, put my arms above my head, and bounced around to an imaginary tune, and my singing.

"_We wonder, are you ready to join us now?  
Hands in the air, we will show you how  
Come and try, Caramell will be your guide  
So come on move your hips  
Singing woa-oa-oa  
Look at youtube clips do it oh-la-la  
You and me, can sing this melody_

_Owa-o-wa-wao, dance to the beat, wave your hands together  
Come feel the heat, forever and forever  
Listen and learn, it is time for prancing  
Now we are here, we're Caramell Dancing!_

Oo-oo-owa-owa  
Oo-oo-owa-owa-a-a  
Oo-oo-owa-owa  
Oo-oo-owa-owa-a-a

From Sweden to UK, we will bring our song  
Australia, USA, and people at Hong Kong  
They have heard, this means all around the world

(Owa-owa-ao)  
So come on move your hips,  
Singing Woa-oa-oa  
Look at youtube clips  
Do it la-la-la  
You and me,  
Can sing this melody

So come and dance to the beat, wave your hands together  
Come feel the heat, forever and forever  
Listen and learn, it is time for prancing,  
Now we are here, we're Caramell Dancing!

_Dance to the beat, wave your hands together  
Come feel the heat, forever and forever  
Listen and learn, it is time for prancing  
Now we are here, we're Caramell Dancing!_

Oo-oo-owa-owa  
Oo-oo-owa-owa-a-a  
Oo-oo-owa-owa  
Oo-oo-owa-owa-a-a

So come and dance to the beat, wave your hands together  
Come feel the heat, forever and forever  
Listen and learn, it is time for prancing  
Now we are here, we're Caramell Dancing!

Dance to the beat, wave your hands together  
Come feel the heat, forever and forever  
Listen and learn, it is time for prancing  
Now we are here, we're Caramell Dancing!"

Sweden actually got up and left. It was THAT embarrassing for him. I sighed dreamily.

"I've always wanted to do that in front of him," I smiled.

"I can't believe you actually DID that," Finland exclaimed incredulously.

"I can't either. I'll be back, Imma go apologize to him." And with that, I left in search of the nation. Which probably won't be hard, because he's so tall, and he won't be able to hide in the fridge like I did one time. It was, like, 1000000 degrees Celsius out there, and there was a sketchy-looking guy on the street. But that's not the point. The point is, is that Sweden can't hide in the fridge when there is a sketchy-looking guy on the street. Which in turn, means that's one place I don't have to look. Anyway, I found Sweden in his room, gazing out the window. I could detect his cheeks still glowing faintly. But that just might be the setting sun, washing brilliant oranges across the fields behind my house. They sky near the east was still blue, but in the west, it was painted red, yellow, and orange. A few fluffy clouds hung around to add to the beautiful picture.

"Hey," I muttered, hovering near the doorframe. Sweden turned his head around. Once he saw it was me, he quickly his face, the colour having returned. I took slow, quiet steps into the room until I stood beside Sweden, gazing out the window too.

"Listen," I said softly, turning my head. "I'm sorry for the Caramell Dancing thing. I really am. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that. Can you forgive me?" He was silent for a bit, before he turned to me and mumbled

" 'p'l'gy acc'pt'd. You're f'rgiven." I could tell by the way he looked at me he wanted to say something else, but thought against it, and walked out of the room. I still stood there, looking at the spot where he dissapeared.


	5. 5: The Cooking of a British Canadian

All in all, the Caramell Dancing incident was forgotten, and life went on. The next morning went on similar to the last one, with Norway teleporting everywhere like Slendytubbies, which ISN'T A SCARY GAME AT ALL! Anyway, a few mornings went by like that, and I started to feel guilty. Why, you may ask. Well, the Nordics heeded my warning of being part British and they took turns cooking. And since I was the host(ess), I should be the one that cooks. So, one evening after a week or so, I decided to try my hand at trying not to make toxic waste.

"So, who's making supper tonight?" Iceland asked while we were hanging out in the living room.

"I AM!" I shouted. Iceland noticeably paled. "I'm going to try. If something goes wrong, you know where the fire extinguisher is." The Nordics gulped and nodded.

"What are you going to make?" Finland asked.

"PAAAASSTAAAAA!" I yelled cheerfully. The countries facepalmed. "It's the only thing I know how to make. And if I fail, Finland's cooking. He hasn't done it in a while. IF, that is, IF I don't kill us all. Don't panic, stay calm. I might just have gotten subconsciously better." I lowered my voice, so only I could hear it, "I rather doubt it."

I got all the ingredients out, and squished them up in a neat pile in the corner of the counter. I took a….dish? I took a whatever-you-call-it, and spread pasta sauce over it. Then I put the noodles on top. And after that, spinach. To finish it, I sprinkled cottage cheese over the lettuce. Then I did another layer, exactly the same. Though this time, after the cottage cheese, I added a mix of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The I put it into the burning hot oven. I let it preheat before. I forgot to tell you that. Sorry. Lesson of today's chapter: Don't skip events and not tell the readers about it. They'll wonder what the heck is wrong with you. Then again, you knew that with me beforehand.

Anyway, I put the pasta into the oven and waited at the table, reading a book. Denmark wandered up to me, sat down, and said

"I'm surprised you haven't screwed up yet."

"I'm surprised too," I replied, putting the book down. "I'm not too bad at preparing it; it's the cooking/baking thing, anything that has to do with heat. Pyromaniacs and ovens don't mix."

A while later, the other Nordics drifted to the kitchen, and we started chatted amiably. The oven beeped, signaling the pasta was done. I slowly opened the oven door, sniffing carefully. After I deemed it was safe to open, I lifted it onto the stove top and dolled out the pasta onto plates.

"What kind of pasta is it?" Finland asked.

"It's lasagna," I answered. "Good thing is, is it doesn't looked like I messed up!" I set the plates down in front of the Nordics, and sat down with mine. I was sitting next to Finland. On my other side was Koda, looking up at me, blissfully unaware of the danger we might be in. The countries looked at me expectantly. I scowled.

"So you want me to try it first?" The Nordics nodded.

"Fine then," I sighed. I lifted my fork and took a hesitant bite. There was silence for a bit, until a swallowed.

"…It's good. It actually tastes good. I'm really surprised." After the 'OK', we all dug in. While eating, we discussed my heritage.

"So we know you're Canadian," Norway commented.

"We also know you're part British," Iceland added.

"Anything else?" questioned Finland.

"Well," I started, "I'm mostly Canadian, obviously, British is next, after that is Austrian. Then it's Russian, then French. Yes, the kind of French from France. Get used to it."

"Russia?!"

"France?!"

"Yes!" I snapped. "I keep getting that from other Hetalia fans when they find out. They always run away from me because they think I'm scary, insane, and perverted, and think I'm going to rape them at any given moment. That's why I don't have friends. France and Russia are just misunderstood."

"So, you're almost a bit like Mr. Sweden!" Finland exclaimed.

"If you think about it in that way, yes," I confirmed thoughtfully. I quickly glanced Sweden's way. I detected a light pink dusting his cheeks. I looked away and went back to eating.

After we were done eating, I volunteered to wash the dishes. I always washed them by hand, because I didn't like investing precious money on laziness. Plus I had nothing else better to do. I scrubbed the dishes absently while staring out the window in front of the sink. If I look hard enough into the setting sun, my love will laugh with me before the morning comes. If you know what I'm quoting, you get a Nyan Cat pop tart of awesomeness. Anyway, I was staring out the window at the setting sun when Iceland quietly wandered into the kitchen and sat down, staring at me intently.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about?" I asked, still continuing with my task.

"Do you ever get lonely?" The question was so sudden and blunt I dropped the plate I was scrubbing back in the sink.

"What?"

"Do you ever get lonely?" Iceland repeated. I paused in thought, resting my hands in the soapy water. Now that he asked it, I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. It had been bothering me for a long time now. I didn't really want to talk about it, but another part of me wanted to get this off my shoulders. I hesitated, but took a breath and went out with it.

"All the time," I answered finally. Iceland leaned in to hear my soft voice better. "I got Koda because I couldn't stand sharing the house with no one. But even with Koda, that feeling wouldn't go away. I needed to share the house with another human being, but I'm still too afraid to go into a relationship. I don't have friends because of my heritage, which I can't change. Both my parents are dead. My father died in a car crash, and my mother died of cancer shortly after. That all happened when I was three. My siblings hated me, and I grew up abused. When I was old enough, I tried calling the cops, but my siblings are like demons disguised as angels, so they got off scot-free. When I turned 18, I immediately left. My siblings still come over sometimes, even though they know I hate it. They haven't picked on me much lately, so I'm glad for the peace and quiet." There was silence for a bit as Iceland took all this information in. Eventually, I said

"Why am I even telling this to you? It's not like you care…. Nobody cares." I abandoned what I was doing, and ran upstairs, covering my face.

"Wait, Sandy!" Iceland called, running after me. He stopped in front of my closed door. He could hear sobbing from the other side. Iceland knocked softly on my door.

"Go away!" I called out.

"Sandy, I-"

"Go away!" I repeated, a little more forcefully. But on the inside, I was screaming _No! Don't go! Don't leave me!_ But I was too torn to think properly. Eventually, I heard hesitant footsteps receding. Immediately I regretted it. Without bothering to change into pajamas, I buried myself under my covers, grabbed an extra pillow, and submerged my face into it, like it was my only life source. I cried myself to sleep as the last few rays of sun sank below the horizon.


	6. 6: The Dreaded Siblings

**A/N:** Oh God! D: I cried while typing near the end of this chapter and I don't know why. Anyway, enjoy!

When I woke the next morning, everything continued as usual. Iceland and I made a silent agreement to not tell the others about the incident last night. Everything was going fine and dandy, like always, until I got a text on my phone. That was when everything spiraled out of control.

_What the fu-BOOOOOOMMMM!_

"Don't worry guys, everything is fine! Nothing exploded, that's just my texting sound!" I rushed to the kitchen counter, which was where I placed my phone last, as everyone else except for Denmark sweat dropped.

"That is an awesome texting sound!" Denmark exclaimed.

"I know, right?" I replied, scanning the message. There was silence, then my eyes widened to twice their normal size.

"What's wrong?" Finland asked worriedly. I slowly put the phone down, my gaze slowly shifting to the Nordics seated at the table.

"My siblings are coming over in like, 15 minutes," I answered. "I have to hide you guys, or I'll never hear the end of it."

"15 minutes?" Norway inquired. "How close do they live to you?"

"In reality, around 20 minutes. They all just drive like maniacs. Now, what I want you to do is hide in my room the entire time and don't come out until the leave; got it?" The Nordics reluctantly nodded their heads.

After what seemed like 2 seconds, the doorbell rang.

"Alright, up the stairs!" I ushered the countries into my room. "Now, if I so much hear a peep, you're all going to be dead by the time they're gone." I wagged a finger and shut the door, leaving some of the nations dejected, or otherwise confused.

I raced down the stairs and hesitantly opened the door. 2 males and 1 female stood on the porch. The oldest one looked about to be 30 years old; he was very tall and muscular, with blue eyes and blond hair slicked up into a Fohawk. (A Fohawk is like a Mohawk, only with the sides of the hair still intact.) He almost looked exactly like Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. Like, who hasn't seen/read it? Anyway, the next oldest was the female, with long, flowing brown hair curled nicely. Her smile seemed to match her youthful, sparkling green eyes. The next male was thin and wiry, with messy blond hair and baby blue eyes. He looked like he was in his mid 20s.

"Hey, Sandy!" The oldest one shouted. "Nice to see you! We brought you a present!" The female held out a large bag of coffee mix, an innocent smile on her face.

"You know I don't like coffee," I said.

"Nonsense!" The tall one replied, shoving past me to raid my fridge. The other two followed him like ducklings, smirking at me as they passed.

"Hey, I'll have this," My oldest brother said, pulling out a bowl of Jell-O.

"That's for Nor-" I stopped myself just in time.

"For who?" My sister asked, her voice beautiful enough to make Slenderman blush.

"For myself," I procrastinated. "I was going to save that!"

"Well, you don't have to save it anymore," My second-oldest brother piped in helpfully. Just then I heard a loud thump. My siblings looked up at the ceiling, and then stared at me.

"What was that?" The messy haired one inquired.

"Something probably just fell off my shelf," I replied carelessly, waving a hand dismissively. "It's been very wobbly lately, and I haven't gotten around to fix, it, I'll probably do after you guys leave, so it won't happen again, or maybe it's just Koda fooling around, he really gets into trouble sometimes, but-"

"We get it," My oldest brother interrupted me; "No one wants to hear your voice." That stung. It was all I could do to not punch him in the face. If he was not as strong, then maybe I would.

But my thoughts scattered when I heard yelling coming from upstairs. A body came rolling down the stairs, crashing into the door at the bottom. Another person raced down the stairs after, leaping onto the fallen body, and then promptly started strangling him. Two more people followed, prying the offensive body off. Another person just inched away slowly, not wanting to be a part of this.

_Great_, I thought. _Just great. I'll never hear the end of this. _

"What are you doing?!" I asked indignantly. The person lying on the floor, who was obviously Denmark, answered

"I was just talking, and then all of a sudden, HE pushes me down the stairs and starts strangling me!" Denmark points at Norway, who was as emotionless as ever.

"He was getting on my nerves," was Norway's comeback. "Shame he wasn't wearing a tie." I sighed and rubbed my temples. I turned to my siblings, who all had mischievous grins.

"Alright. Guys, these are my siblings. This is Lucas," I gestured to the oldest that looked like Draco Malfoy. Lucas raised a hand and smiled a little too widely. He licked his lips subconciously. "Jenna," I pointed to my sister, "and Felix." I pointed to my second brother. "Siblings, these are my…..tenants/friends. This is Tino Väinämöinen, he's from Finland, that's Berwald Oxenstierna, he's from Sweden, the one that's getting off the floor is Simon Densen(1), he's from Denmark, and the one that strangled him is Lukas Bondevik, he's from Norway. This one here-" I pulled Iceland out from the shadows, "Is Emil Steilsson. He's from Iceland."

"Nice to meet you guys!" Lucas called out.

"Nice to meet you too!" Finland smiled. Iceland gave me a questioning glance, as if to say

_These are the siblings that abused you? _I replied with a glance that read

_Yes. They obviously won't pick on me in front of you guys, now would they?_

"Aha, you have five very hot-looking men living in your house," Jenna teased. "Maybe that's why you're grumpy today; you've been up all night long doing only we know what!"

"No! That's not true!" I shouted, blushing hard. _Well, I guess they WOULD pick on me in front of them._

"I wouldn't blame you, though," Jenna replied, waltzing up to Finland and leaning on his shoulder, Jenna's face a little too close to Finland's cheek. The small nation blushed heavily, while Sweden sent Jenna a very scary threatening glance. Jenna caught the glance and remarked

"You're gayer than a pink unicorn flying over a diamond studded rainbow aren't you?"

"JENNA!" I shouted, while Sweden's cheeks turned the colour of a tomato, and my brothers laughed.

"Well, it's probably true," My sister said quietly, slinking back to her place in the kitchen.

"Hey, you've still haven't called me 'Big Brother' yet," Norway commented, turning to Iceland.

"You're bringing that up now? I swear, you're making no sense," The nation replied.

"Wait, you're both from different countries. How can you be brothers?" Felix asked.

"Long-lost. Recently found," I butted in before Denmark could let anything slip.

"That sounds like an awesome idea," Lucas remarked. "Hey Sandy, can you call me 'Big Brother'?"

"Yeah! I want to be called that too!" Felix added.

"Don't forget about me, you have to call me 'Big Sister'!" Jenna chimed in.

"I'm not calling you anything. Well, I would like to call you something, but that would turn this fic into a T. So, the answer is no."

"Big brother."

"No."

"Big brother."

"Not saying it."

"Big sister."

"I said no!"

"Big brother."

"Don't side with them, Lukas!" Iceland exclaimed.

"I'm not. I simply want you to say it to me."

"Ic-…Emil, I now know how you feel," I said. "It's terrible!"

"I know! It's annoying."

"Big brother."

"NO." I was starting to get ticked off.

"Big brother."

"I SAID NO." Lucas was stating to get ticked off.

"Call me big brother."

"I don't know how anyone could call you by your actual name, let alone call you a nickname."

"Alright, that's it!" Lucas lost his temper. "I'm tired of your snarky attitude. Why can't you just be good and do what we say?" He lunged for me, fist pulled backwards. Before the fist connected with my nose, Felix and Jenna dashed out of the house before they were accused of doing anything. But when the fist DID collide with my face, it hurt. It did more than hurt. A lighting bolt of pain shot through my nose, temporarily stunning me. I reeled backwards, stumbling on my own feet. I could feel something warm and sticky trickling down my lip. I tasted the metallic tang of blood.

"I'll lock you in the closet and never feed you like we did before!" Lucas yelled, rage overcoming his senses, clouding his common sense. "I'll chain you to the wall and beat you with my own bare hands!" He lunged for me again, tackling me to the floor, arms wrapped around my neck, putting me into a headlock. I struggled, but Lucas was much stronger than I was, so the attempts were fruitless. I slowly felt the oxygen draining from my lungs, leaving me gasping for air I could not reach. I twisted my head and sunk my teeth into his arm-HARD. He yowled in pain and stumbled backwards. I saw a flash of red as Denmark leaped on Lucas, pinning him to the ground. I felt a pair arms wrap around my curled-up body and drag me into a corner. Iceland held me close, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that the fight didn't come towards me.

Denmark and Lucas were having a wrestling match, snarling and grunting at each other. Denmark, being more muscular, got the upper hand. He rolled on top of Lucas, trapping him. Both were gasping for breath.

"So, Sandy has overprotective boyfriends, has she?" Lucas asked, licking his lips, a wild look in his eyes.

"We're not her boyfriends," Denmark snarled. "We're looking out for her. She allowed us to stay with her when we had nowhere else to go. So screw off and don't pick on anybody. Or we will personally hunt you down."

"It's about time," Lucas continued, ignoring the nation's threat. "The only friend Sandy has ever had is her dog. Which is pretty pathetic. Then again, her dog is the only person that loves her. And it's not even human. So you're not her boyfriends, you say. Well, if that's the case, then no one really DOES love her."

"Shut up!" Denmark yelled, pressing down on Lucas' throat. "If you diss Sandy again, I'll turn you in." Lucas went silent for a bit, staring into the nation's eyes. Sweden, who was standing of into the corner, protecting Finland, had enough. He stormed over to the pair, shoved Denmark off, and picked Lucas up by the front of his shirt.

"We'll l't y'u off th' hook f'r n'w. D'n't ev'er c'me b'ck; we w'll alw'ys be th're f'r h'r." And with that, Sweden promptly threw Lucas onto the street, which he dashed off to God knows where. He turned around, staring at all the silent nations.

"G't h'r to bed," was all Sweden said. Denmark got off the floor and picked me up, carrying me to the safe haven that was sleep.


	7. 7: Voices of Awesomeness

**A/N**: Okay, when the link comes up, click on it otherwise the chapter will not make any sense XD Oh and that (1) in the last chapter, is Denmark's unconfirmed human name. Himaruya said that Simon is a possible first name, with Densen being the surname he liked.

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys

I woke up to sunlight streaming through the slightly open window. I groaned, wanting to go back to the wonderful dream I was having about Korean-speaking unicorns and yellow dogs. In a desperate attempt to go back to Heaven, I snuggled my face closer into Denmark's chest. Wait what?

I shot up in bed with a small squeak. I glanced at the body lying beside me. Denmark was lying on his side, one hand supporting his head, the other on his hip, and grinning mischievously.

"Did you have a good sleep?" He asked.

"What are you doing in my bed?!" I exclaimed, ignoring his question.

"You fell asleep seconds after I picked you up. You looked so cute, lying there in your bed, sleeping, and I couldn't resist," Denmark replied, grin growing wider as my cheeks went redder.

"Whatever," I muttered, throwing the blankets off of me. I turned around, staring at the nation expectantly.

"What?" Denmark asked, confused. My only answer was a finger pointed toward the door. With a disappointed sigh, Denmark meandered towards the door, head drooping dramatically.

"Oh come on, you faker," I giggled, shoving him out and closing the door. I quickly got dressed in different clothes, and walked downstairs, sleep forgotten.

As I turned the corner to the kitchen, I found all the Nordics there. Iceland was doing nothing, Norway was reading, and Denmark was bothering Norway. Sweden and Finland were at the stove, making breakfast.

"Watcha makin?" I asked, peering over Finland's shoulder.

"We decided to make your favourite: Pancakes!" The small nation exclaimed.

"Smells delicious!" I remarked. Eventually, we all sat down and ate. Around halfway through the meal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and I all glanced at each other and nodded.

"Say, Finland," Denmark started

"Yes?"

"We were wondering if you could do the rest off us a favour," Norway continued.

"Sure, what is it?"

"We need you to help us film a video," Iceland added.

"A video?" Finland exclaimed. "Are all of you guys in this video?" We nodded guiltily.

"Well, we wanted to show it to you as a surprise, but then we decided instead to make a video, so now we want you to film it for us."'

"Sure!" The nation agreed. "But what is the video about?"

"We'r' s'ngin'," Sweden said.

"Singing?"

"Yeah, we made an a cappella cover for Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye," I explained.

"Cool! Sure, I'll help!"

We were standing in the part of my basement that was unfinished. Denmark, me, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden stood in a line, with Finland facing us, holding a video camera.

"Okay, just so you know Finland," I started, "Denmark is doing the beat-boxing-"

"The best beat-boxing in the world!"

"Yes, we know, you've told us that like, 10 times already," Norway said. "Anyways," I continued, "I'm doing some background vocals and the female part, Iceland is the lead singer, Norway is more background vocals, and Sweden is, of course, the bass." There was silence for a bit as Finland messed around with the camera.

"Okay, here we go, we're going; this is happening," Finland told us.

"Alright!" Denmark exclaimed. There was silence for a couple more seconds until Sweden started with the bass intro.

(Here is the link! watch?v=hOKuAigsrec )

"You guys, that was amazing!" Finland exclaimed after he shut the camera off.

"It felt amazing," Iceland commented.

"Ja," Sweden agreed.

"What are we going to do with the video now?" Norway asked.

"Well, we could keep it, or….I guess…We could put it on the internet….But that would let everyone know you're here," I contemplated.

"I think we shouldn't do anything with it for now," Iceland said.

"Alright," I concluded.

(**A/N**: A lot of time skips, lol)

We were sitting in the living room, talking.

"…I copy different characters' voices for fun," I was saying.

"Can you do my voice?" Denmark asked.

"I tried, and it didn't work really well. So, no, I cannot. I can't do yours either, Iceland, sorry."

"What about my voice?" Finland asked.

"I don't know actually. Umm, say something and I'll copy you."

"Ummm…." Finland racked his brains for something to say. "I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

"Really?" Iceland raised one eyebrow.

"I didn't know what else to say!" Finland defended.

"Alright, Okay." I took a deep breath, trying to hide the blush that was slowly spreading across my cheeks. "I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. Oh God, that was terrible!"

"No, it wasn't! You've my accent right; you just sound like a female me, that's all!" Finland encouraged. I made a soft sighing noise in response. "Do Sweden's voice!"

"…Oh God. Um, alright, um…" I cleared my throat. "Ja, well I am Sweden. And this is my wife."

"That was pretty good!" Denmark laughed, while Finland blushed. "Again, though, you sound like him as a female. Oh! Oh! Do Norway's voice!" All the Nordics, including Norway himself, stared expectantly at me.

"Okay…..You're procrastinating, now shut up and say my name!" Everyone looked dumbfounded. Even Norway's eyes widened a tiny bit at that.

"That was awesome!" Denmark exclaimed. "You sound exactly like him!"

"One thing I don't get about that sentence," I said, "Is the fact that you cannot shut up and say something at the same time. It doesn't make any sense." Norway looked slightly irritated at that.

"What other voices can you do?" Iceland asked.

"The ones I can do exactly are Italy, Poland, Russia, Austria, and of course, Norway, and Germany's Japanese voice. Canada is okay, I just sound like a female version of him. Same with that unawesome idjit Prussia."

"Idjit?" Sweden asked.

"My term for idiot. Then again, Prussia is worse than that."

"I can tell you really hate Prussia," Norway commented.

"…Just like Russia," added Finland.

"Yerps," I confirmed. A few seconds later, I pandiculated. I love that word. Pandiculation is when you stretch and yawn at the same time. Well, you learn something new every day.

"I'm goin' t' b'd," I said. Sweden gave me a glare that looked sort of looked like he was saying _don't steal my mumble. _

A few minutes later I crawled under the covers of my comfy bed. For a few seconds I lay there, until suddenly I hear my door open and close hastily, soft running footsteps, then a muffled _thump_ as a body landed on the bed beside me.

"Denmark, what are you doing?" I asked indignantly, sitting up.

"Sleeping with you," he replied bluntly.

"No. I let you sleep with me once, which was all."

"But you were _a_sleep. You didn't _let_ me sleep with you. I let myself. So now, you are letting me sleep with you; this is the one time," Denmark argued.

"No, I'm not letting you-" I was interrupted as Denmark stroked my hair gently. I let out a soft sigh and slowly sank back into the pillows, the Danish nation smiling mischievously.

"My hair! My only weakness!" I exclaimed, "How did you know?"

"I guessed it because you never let anyone touch your hair. So I decided to test out my theory. And I was right; you become extremely relaxed once I play with it." Denmark continued to play with my hair until he heard my soft breathing, signaling I was asleep. Not long after, Denmark fell asleep as well, one arm wrapped protectively around my torso for the rest of the night.


	8. 8: You Can't Avoid the Epicness of Music

**A/N:** First day of school tomorrow! *Sobs* Here's a chapter in honour of my last day of summer.

The next morning continued as usual: Me waking up early, which resulted in me kicking Denmark out of the room, which made Denmark make a lot of noise, which caused the other nations to wake up, which meant Finland was making breakfast again. After a long, heated discussion over the meal about what would happen if the Nordics met their Scandinavia and the World counterparts, after which every volcano would erupt at the same time, we scattered throughout the house to do our own things.

I was walking past the basement door to go upstairs to my room, when I heard music. It sounded suspiciously like a violin, playing some song I had never heard before. Curious, I slowly descended the stairs, halting in front of Norway's closed door to his room. Quietly, I opened his door. There was Norway playing a violin. His eyes were closed, pouring his heart into the music. I stood in the entrance, silently listening to the unfamiliar tune. Still playing, Norway opened his eyes, and looked straight at me. He motioned with his head to come in. Hesitantly, I closed the door behind me and sat beside him on the edge of his bed. When Norway was finished his piece, he put the violin down on his lap.

"You play very beautifully," I remarked.

"Thank you," Norway replied, as emotionless as ever.

"I play violin too," I added, trying to keep the conversation from dying.

"Really?" Now Norway sounded interested, if that was even possible. "Can you get it?"

"Sure," I answered, getting up. A minute later, I entered the room carrying a brilliant blue violin.

"Nice colour," Norway commented.

"Thanks, the store I got it at had only this one, and it was 80 dollars." I warmed up my fingers, playing random notes. Eventually I came to a set of notes that sounded familiar.

"Hey Norway, this sounds likes America's Hamburger Street song!" I played the chorus for him.

"I've also noticed that Hamburger Street sounds like the Pokémon theme. Listen…." I started singing to demonstrate. "Hamburger streeeet….and….I wanna be, the very best. Don't they sound the same?"

"They do. What do you want to play?"

"Oh, I dunno. A Legend of Zelda medley?"

"Sure."

We both picked up our violins and started to play.

(**A/N:** You don't have to click this if you don't want to. But in case you do, here's Link! LOL! BTW, ignore the fact that both of these people are girls, and they are the same person. Oh well. Long live Lindsey Stirling! XD watch?v=KA8a5qibUJU )

"That was awesome!" I said after the song ended.

"I guess," replied Norway's monotonous voice.

"When do you EVER show emotion?" I asked.

"Never. I don't need to."

"Just smile."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Just for me?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry- wait, no, with butter on top?"

"Still no."

"Oh come on! I said butter! How does that not work?" I exclaimed.

"I have no idea." There was silence for quite a while.

"Please?" I asked again in a quiet, innocent voice.

"No."

"Fine. Then I'll make you smile." I put my hands on his cheeks and pulled them into a smile. Except it looked more like a grimace. With a quiet chuckle, I lowered my hands into my lap. There was a peaceful silence as we stared into each other's eyes. Subconsciously, we began to lean in.

_BANG!_

Denmark burst into the room, jolting us from the moment. The rest of the Nordics peeked cautiously around the door frame.

"I heard violins!" The egoistical nation shouted.

"You're so loud," Norway complained, slightly ticked off.

"I didn't know you played violin, Sandy," Finland said, finding the courage to walk into the room.

"I do. I also play piano and French Horn."

"You have a piano?! Where?!" Denmark exclaimed.

"Upstairs in my bedroom. And for the French Horn, It's hiding in my closet somewhere," I answered.

"Cool! You should play it sometime for us! Especially me, being the oldest and the King of Northern Europe after all."

Denmark's air supply was cut off as Norway grabbed on to his tie. Finland freaked out, Iceland rolled his eyes, and Sweden and I did Lady Gaga's poker face… Uhhh, forget I said that.

"You're so annoying."

"Please don't do that! You're scaring me!" Finland shrieked. Norway glanced over Denmark's shoulder at the short nation. After a brief moment of consideration (which was more like 15 seconds), he replied

"I guess he's had enough." and let go. By the time he did, Denmark's face was already turning purple. He gasped heavily, trying to draw back in oxygen.

"You'd think after all these years of this happening, he would find the sense to take off his tie," Iceland remarked. Sweden grunted in agreement. Of course, Denmark was too busy drawing in air to listen to what they were saying.

"Could you perhaps play us a song on your violin, Sandy?" Finland asked.

"Sure," I said, and picked up the violin. I started playing the intro, and the Nordics eyes widened. After the intro was finished, Sweden started singing the lyrics in his deep, bass voice.

_Far over the misty mountains cold,_

_To dungeons deep, and caverns old,_

_We must away, ere break of day,_

_To seek the pale enchanted gold,_

For the next verse, Iceland joined in the singing with Sweden, creating a harmony.

_The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,_

_While hammers fell like ringing bells,_

_In places deep, where dark things sleep, _

_In hollow halls beneath the fells,_

Then Norway joined with background notes.

_For ancient king and elvish lord,_

_There many a gleaming golden hoard,_

_They shaped and wrought, and light they caught,_

_To hide in gems on hilt of sword,_

Finland harmonized Norway's notes, creating a chord.

_On silver necklaces they strung,_

_The flowering stars, on crowns they hung,_

_The dragon-fire, in twisted wire,_

_They meshed the light of moon and sun,_

Finally, Denmark sung the lyrics with Iceland, with Sweden shifting to the bass notes.

_Far over the misty mountains cold,_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old,_

_We must away, ere break of day,_

_To find our long forgotten gold,_

The vocals combined with the violin made the song an epic and a sad emotional one.

_Goblets they carved there for themselves,_

_And harps of gold; where no man dwells,_

_There lay they long, and many a song,_

_Was sung unheard by men and elves,_

_ The pines were roaring on the height,_

_The winds were moaning in the night,_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread,_

_The trees like torches blazed with light,_

_ The bells were ringing in the dale,_

_And men looked up with faces pale,_

_The dragon's ire, more fierce than fire,_

_Laid low their towers an houses frail,_

_ The mountains smoked beneath the moon,_

_The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom,_

_They fled their hall, to dying fall,_

_Beneath his feet, beneath the moon,_

_ Far over the misty mountains grim,_

_To dungeons deep, and caverns dim,_

_We must away, ere break of day,_

_To win our harps and gold from him!_

**A/N: **Review if you know what song this is! Or, just review if you want to; I won't stop you, lol. Anyway, fun fact: I do actually play those instruments; French Horn being my best one, but piano being my first. And I also did get my violin for 80 dollars. Austrians rule!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	9. 9: Blending in

After singing the song, the Nordics said they knew the song, and loved it. They said it reminded them of the Viking times, for some reason. After that, we went upstairs and fell asleep for the night.

The morning went as usual. It stopped being usual, however, when we found there was barely any food left.

"I guess we're going to have to go shopping," Finland said, closing the fridge door.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda tired of wearing the same clothes everyday," Denmark added.

"Well, if you're coming with me, then we're going to have to disguise you guys, so no fangirls come and kill me when they find out you're living with me. And also, so they don't abduct you," I listed, shutting my iPod off.

"H'w do w' do th't?" Sweden asked.

"Take off a few layers for clothing, and for your hair and stuff, I'll figure something out."

"Me first!" Denmark shouted.

"Right then, come upstairs."

We were standing in the bathroom; Denmark' long jacket and tie thrown on the floor.

"I have to flatten your hair, so we have to get it wet," I was saying.

"You have to use gel, then," The nation replied.

"Why?"

"When I was younger, Norway cast a spell on me to make my hair stick up. I loved it, so he made it stay this way."

"Ummm, okay, gel then." So then Denmark's hair was flattened, but still in a good-looking way.

"I think that's good enough," I said, looking at Denmark approvingly.

This time, Sweden and I were standing in the bathroom.

"Alright, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, how well can you see without your glasses?"

"2."

"Oh, uh, okay, um…let's see if I have any contacts laying around….Aha! Here! By the way, in case you're wondering, I don't actually need glasses. The owners I bought the house from left some here. Don't ask me why." I handed Sweden the contacts. Don't tell me they have to be prescribed, this is a story, and I can do whatever I want, so there.

"Now, about your hair….um…just slick it back with gel. Not too much, mind you, you already look a lot like Germany. Then just take off a few layers of your clothes, and we're finished."

"Okay Norway, we need to change your eye colour." I took out more contacts that weren't prescribed. I don't even know where I get all this stuff. "These I use for cosplaying, so they're okay to use. They'll make your eyes turn blue. If people see someone with purple eyes, they might suspect something…. I'm just being cautious; don't look at me like that." I waited as Norway put the contacts in.

"…You look cool! And is there any way you can make your curl disappear?"

"Yeah," Norway replied, and the curl just POOFED away. POOF. POOOOF. I love that word. You try it. POOF. Come on. Do it. POOF. DO IT. Good.

"So now, just take a layer of clothes off, and you'll be good to go."

"I think you're good, Finland," I remarked, looking him up and down. We made no changes to his hair or eyes, but I did make him wear my clothes. We both are practically the same height and size, and I wear men's shirts anyway. They're much more comfortable. The Finnish nation was wearing a black shirt with the words 'Expressions of Vader' with a bunch of boxes labeled different emotions with Vader's face on them. Except that Darth Vader wears a helmet, so all the expressions were the same. Finland WAS though, wearing his own pants. Because a man wearing women's pants just looks wrong.

"So, Iceland, here is a wig. Put it on. A teen with silver hair looks kind of weird. Not trying to insult you or anything, just saying." I helped Iceland put on the wig. "That's much more convincing. So take some of your clothes off and we'll be done."

"I'm not taking my clothes off!" Iceland exclaimed.

"Not all of them!" I said, "Just your jacket and the bow or something."

"Oh," Iceland replied sheepishly, a blush rising to his cheeks.

"Alright, we're here," I said, shutting off the car. We parked at Wal-Mart, the crappiest store ever, but its close, so it's the only place I shop at. Which is rare, because I'm usually very shy in public.

As we entered, I grabbed a cart. The Nordics followed behind me like ducklings.

"Okay, rules: Stick with me, don't blurt anything out to random people, no fighting, and no destroying the place. I'm not pointing fingers or anything. Cough, Denmark, cough. Got it?" The Nordics nodded.

"Right then; where first? Food or clothes?"

"Food."

"Okay, this way!" I marched over to the food section, the countries close behind. "So choose something that you want, then I'll get the other stuff." In a flash, the nations scattered, and then came back, holding an item of their choice. Sweden put a box of Swedish meatballs in the cart. I didn't even know Wal-Mart had that. Anyway, Finland put in a bunch of cookies, Norway put in fish (the boxed kind, not a raw one), Iceland had a whole bunch of licorice, and Denmark grabbed a pack of various Danishes.

"Figures," I said, putting different kinds of pasta in. I finished the food shopping, and we headed over to the other side of the store.

"Okay, I'm going to go do my own clothes shopping, so I'm leaving Finland in charge of the cart. Meet me back here in 20 minutes. Please, please, don't disrupt anything." And with that, I left in another direction. As soon as I left, the nations scattered, separating into 2 groups. Denmark went off on his own; Norway followed him like a stalker. Iceland, Sweden, and Finland stuck together.

"So, I think we have everything we need, right?" Finland asked the other nations. Iceland nodded and Sweden grunted in agreement. "Now all we have to do is find Denmark and Norway, then meet Sandy."

In fact, Denmark had everything he needed, and was spending the rest of the time talking to a large group of girls, who were giggling and smiling at everything he said.

"I'm Danish," he was saying, "And Denmark is the king of Northern Europe." One of the girls looked at him questioningly.

"How can a country be a king?" she inquired.

"Well, because I-" The country was cut off as Norway, who was also finished, and not far behind, grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away, saying

"Shut it, Dane. Our time's up, we have to go back." Between the choking, he waved goodbye at the girls. Smiling, they waved back. But what the two countries DIDN'T notice was that one of the girls was wearing a shirt that said 'Hetalia' on it.

(**A/N**: AARRGGHH! So many timeskips!)

"So everyone's here?" I asked. I counted heads, and came up with five. "Good. Let's go pay." So after we paid, we heard someone shouting.

"There they are! They're right there! The Nordics!" The large group of girls Denmark was talking to pointed at us, then started running. I muttered an obscenity, then yelled

"Let's go!" The countries didn't need to be told twice. We bolted, heading for the exit. Because of all the adrenaline rushing through my body, I was on full alert. I noticed all the people staring at us; we were probably quite the sight. I also noticed Sweden running a few feet ahead of me. I never knew he could run so fast.

We arrived at the parking lot and dashed to the car, the fangirls hot on our heels, screaming

"Denmark! Norway! Sweden! Ice-kun! Finland!"

We got up to the car, and everyone was hastily shoving everything from the cart into the trunk. As soon as everything was loaded, Sweden just pushed the cart into an open parking stall nearest to us, and ran back, jumping into the passenger seat. I turned on the ignition, backing out of the stall. We relaxed visibly when we reached the highway that leads home, leaving the fangirls very disappointed and angry, waving their invisible knives and pitchforks at us. Then, the shouting began.

"You stupid Dane! Why did you do that?" Norway exclaimed, showing rare emotion.

"I don't know! I couldn't help it! They loved me!"

"They loved you too much," Iceland muttered.

"Th'y lov'd us 'll too m'ch."

"Now if they find out where I live, they'll kill me," I said, visibly ticked off at the nation as well. "Thank God I hid my face; otherwise I would've killed you when we get home. But my face was hidden, so I'll just chop off your hand instead." I smiled innocently as Denmark blanched.

"We've got another Russia here! Scary!" Finland whimpered, curling in on himself. Sweden sent a concerned glance at the small nation, then ay myself. If you listened closely, you could hear a quiet _'Kolkolkolkolkol' _the entire way home.


	10. 10: People Have Really Good Imaginations

After we got home, I gave Denmark a what-for, and then calmed myself down by locking myself in my room and listened to Dearly Beloved on loop for 10 hours. Soon, I fell asleep and woke up the next morning to 2 feet of snow in the backyard. I meandered down the stairs into the kitchen where Finland was (again) making breakfast. Apparently he loves to do that.

"There's snow."

"Yes, I know that," Finland said, not looking up.

"Why the heck is there snow? I didn't even see the leaves changing colour!"

"I n'tic'd it," Sweden chimed in.

"And it's only, what, September?" I checked the calendar, which was hanging underneath the clock, which was hanging underneath the cupboard, which was hanging underneath the ceiling. "Yes it is."

"It snows in September?" Iceland asked.

"Yeah, usually around the middle of September, then melts in the middle of March here in Canada," I answered.

"Wh-"

I cut Denmark off with a warning glance before he could ask 'Who?' Never forget Canadian awesomeness. And potatoes. Never forget them, either. They're so underrated. Soon we finished breakfast and cleaned the dishes. The rest of the morning and afternoon was quiet. Except for me, who was jamming on the piano upstairs. In my dictionary, 'Jamming' means playing a song, then getting one note wrong, then having to start all over again in order for me to memorize what I'm playing. This is what the Nordics heard the entire time: A very beautiful song being played, then comes one really off note, then a muffled obscenity floating down the stairs. Put that on repeat for the next 3 hours. Eventually, even Finland got tired of it, and retrieved me from my room to talk with the rest of the countries.

"I know!" He exclaimed. I could just see the floating lightbulb. "We should all go outside and have fun in the snow!"

"I guess we could…" I trailed off.

"Well, I'm not going," Norway said, not looking up from the book he borrowed from me: Brisingr.

"Come on, Norge, it'll be fun!" Denmark cried out gleefully.

"Don't call me that."

"I'll do wh'tev'r F'nl'nd's d'ing."

"Fine, we'll go outside without you, Norway," Denmark huffed, then went to the front door to get his coat.

Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and I were all outside in the backyard, making snowforts. Sweden and Finland were building one together, and it looked pretty cool: Sweden was securing the four walls, with Finland drawing little patterns into them. It was cool, but not as awesome as Iceland, Denmark and mine's. Because it was the three of us building, we got a lot more finished. It was like a mini castle, complete with turrets and a moat.

"Hey Norway!" Denmark called.

"What?" Norway snapped, poking his head out from the back door.

"Who's fort is better?"

"Not any that you've built, that's for sure."

"Aw, come on Norge! Don't be a killjoy!" Denmark called at the emotionless nation's retreating head. I packed snow into a ball and chucked it as hard as I could at Norway's skull. Denmark and I laughed as the snow splattered all over the country's head. He turned around to face us slowly.

"That's it!" Norway raced across the snow to hide behind Sweden and Finland's fort, and made a whole arsenal of snowballs in like, 5 seconds. …..I'm starting to sound like Poland. Anyway, Norway took aim, and the ball of snow hit Denmark square in the face.

"Oh, it's on!" I yelled, as Finland laughed.

It was an epic battle. Denmark, Iceland and I against Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Snow flew across the backyard, most of them missing their target, but some of them striking home. When it did, there would be laughs, and even more determined nations as they took revenge.

Soon, though, the cold and wetness got to us, so we trudged back inside to warm up in our pajamas by the fire.

"How about we tell a story?" Finland asked. We were all sitting on pillows on the floor, wrapped up snugly in blankets.

"I'll tell one!" I piped up.

"Okay! What's it about?"

"It's about Norway, Sweden, and Iceland getting stuck in a cornfield. All Nordics are included."

"Ummm…Okay…Well, go on."

"Alright. It all starts late one afternoon when Iceland was running away from Denmark, who was chasing him because of his claim of independence. Denmark, who had only Finland and his own soldiers on his side, dodged the hazards of the Viking village. (**A/N: **I don't care if this history is screwed up, this is my fanfic :P) Laundry was trampled, chickens were stepped on, carts were overturned, and some disgruntled citizen threw a tomato at Denmark. Wiping seeds out of his eyes, the bossy nation continued chasing after the fleeing Iceland, all the way to the outskirts of town, where Iceland disappeared into a conveniently placed cornfield. Denmark called a halt.

"But he'll get away!" Finland protested. Denmark shook his head.

"The exact opposite. If we followed, we would get become lost in the rows of corn. He could double-back along a path two rows over, and we would never know it. Better to surround the fields and wait for him to stumble out."

"But what if he doesn't come out?" Finland pointed out.

"He'll have to come out for food."

"He could eat corn," the small nation muttered.

"No one can live on corn alone. Spread out and surround the field."

And so they did. And so began a several hour siege. We could follow Iceland during those hours, except that the nation spent most of them sprawled under a stand of corn, sound asleep. His adventures would begin after dark. Better to check on Denmark in the late afternoon, just as dusk was setting in. It was then that he noticed the dot on the horizon. He squinted at it. No, not on the horizon, _above_ the horizon.

He pointed it out to Finland.

"Finland, what is that?" Finland raised his spyglass he found laying around and looked out towards the growing dot in the sky. A long moment passed.

"Well?" Denmark asked crisply.

"It…seems to be an elephant…"

"Oh come on! Have you been drinking on duty?"

Finland shook his head, eye still glued to the spyglass.

"No! It's an elephant. With wings."

"And I suppose it's _pink_ too," Denmark muttered sarcastically. The Finnish nation turned to look at him, surprised.

"How did _you_ know?"

"Oh, give me that!" Denmark snapped, taking the spyglass. He raised it to his eye, and peered out.

He very nearly dropped the glass. Because what he saw was an elephant. A pink one. With wings. And it was approaching rapidly. The country lowered the glass, and found that he didn't really need it. The elephant was getting close. And bearing down on him. And it didn't look as though it was going to stop.

Denmark had occasionally planned what he would do if this situation arose. Though usually he had imagined Sweden's fist coming in, rather than a pink elephant (with wings). He had always planned to say something along the lines of "Seek shelter in the nearest available bar at once!" or, if the situation warranted, "Stand your ground, men!" but now that the crisis was upon him, only one word entered his head and only one exited his mouth.

"HELP."

If he'd meant "Stand your ground," it lost something in the translation. If the goal had been "seek shelter" etc., it was fairly effective, which Denmark noted in passing as he ran after the fleeing Finland, chance, not deliberate intent, putting him at the back.

Denmark could run quite fast.

Unfortunately for him, the elephant could fly faster.

The next thing anybody knew, a flying pink elephant had landed on the King of Northern Europe.

Finland stopped running. We can hope it was because he saw his ally's plight and felt the stirring of noble duty urging him to lend assistance. Or it may have been because he was up to a wall and there was nowhere else to run. He turned, and nervously looked at the pink elephant.

"Uh…good elephant, nice elephant," Finland said weakly. "You don't _really_ want to hurt anyone…right?"

"Get it OFF!" Denmark's muffled shout came.

"Um…fly away elephant." Finland waved his hands feebly, more or less in imitation of a bird's wings. "Fly away…flap, flap?"

All in all, it wasn't the most auspicious meeting with a new life form on record. It did seem to get the idea across though. With a great heave the elephant rose up, flapped its wings once, and took off. Finland watched for a moment as the elephant faded to a pink dot in the distance. It was never seen again. Then he turned to Denmark, who remained sprawled face-down on the ground.

"Are you all right?"

Denmark raised his head and gave the smaller nation a withering look. "You ask me if I'm _all right_? An _elephant_ just landed on me!"

Meanwhile, Sweden and Norway had not been entirely idle. They had followed the chase scene earlier, and knew that Iceland had vanished into the cornfield. Consequently, shortly after dark fell (and therefore shortly after the elephant flew in, landed on Denmark and left; also more than an hour after Iceland woke up) they snuck past two of Denmark's guards and entered the cornfield to hunt for Iceland.

They advanced cautiously down a row of cornstalks, peering through the gloom. All was silent. For a moment. And then a body came crashing through the cornstalks on their left, to sprawl on the ground a few yards in front of them.

The body shifted. "Ouch."

Sweden looked closer, noting the unruly silver hair and the brown suit.

"Icel'nd?"

The nation leaped to his feet and whirled fully around, throwing a couple of punches that landed on nothing, apparently expecting attacks from any—or all—sides. His eyes finally landed on Sweden and Norway, and he relaxed.

"Oh. You."

"You seem a little tense," Norway observed.

Iceland looked around him, looking haunted.

"This is a strange place."

Sweden blinked.

"It's a c'rnfi'ld."

Iceland shrugged elaborately.

"All I can say is…" He paused, looked around as though expecting spies, then leaned in and said in a confidential whisper, "_Beware of low-flying salad bowls_."

Sweden and Norway stared at him. The youngest stared back, deadly serious. A long moment passed.

Norway coughed slightly.

"Iceland, are you feeling well?"

"C'nsid'r'ng he just t'ld us to…b'w're of l'w-flying s'lad d'shes…" Sweden looked at him speculatively, showing a small amount of rare emotion.

Norway huffed. "He does look a little feverish."

"He l'oks a l'ttle drunk," Sweden said dryly. "H'w m'ch have y'u b'en dr'nk'ng, Icel'nd?"

"I'm not _drunk_!" the nation yelped, perhaps with undue indignation. "I haven't had any alcohol in…" He began counting on his fingers. "One, two…five, six…eight, nine. _Nine_!" he said, holding up eight fingers.

Norway looked at him in surprise.

"Nine days? I'm impressed."

Iceland shifted from foot to foot, looking faintly guilty.

"Well, actually, ah, more like…nine _hours_. But I'm completely sober!"

Sweden looked at him doubtfully.

"W''re s'pposed to b'lieve th't we m'y be str'ck by a l'w-flying s'lad—"

He was interrupted by a flourish of music from no apparent source. It was accompanied by a somewhat squeaky voice, proclaiming,  
"Look! Up in the sky! It's a cup! It's a plate! It's…_Superbowl_!"  
"_Hit the deck_!" Iceland roared, crashing into Sweden and Norway, sending all three of them to the ground.  
They looked up to see a wooden bowl fly overhead and hover there, trailing a red cape behind. It seemed to be accompanied by a swarm of small plates.  
The squeaky voice continued.  
"Yes, Superbowl! Strange visitor from another kitchen, come to your house with powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary cooking utensils! Faster than a speeding blender! More powerful than a dishwasher! Able to toss great salads in a single spin! And, disguised as Tupperware, mild-mannered salad bowl for your local housewife, he fights a never-ending battle for truth! Justice! And the culinary way!"  
The music flourished once, the bowl and saucers flew off, and silence fell on the cornfield.  
Norway stared after the retreating bowl and saucers as the three of them got to their feet.  
"Was that…?"  
"A low-flying salad bowl?" Iceland nodded. "Yes."  
"Acc'mp'nied by flying s'ucers…" Sweden mumbled.  
"I told you. This is a mighty strange place we're in."  
"You make a very good point," Norway acknowledged.  
"Thanks. And I'm getting myself out of here."  
"Iceland, you can't. Denmark's out there with Finland and an unspecified number of soldiers," The magical nation pointed out. "They'll hang you."  
"Between the salad bowl and Denmark, I'll take Denmark," Iceland said firmly.  
The country started striding down the row, presumably with the intent of finding the way out. He was abruptly halted when the cornstalks parted on his right and someone stepped out.  
The someone wasn't a human, and he wasn't a soldier. He might have been Vinland, but then again he might have been a god. Or anything in between. The only distinguishing feature about him was the small dish and accompanying bonsai tree he was carrying.  
The man regarded the nation. "Are you Iceland?"  
Said country eyed him suspiciously.  
"Maybe." He shrugged. "Probably. The odds are good."  
The man studied him, and then nodded. "Good. I want you to have this."  
He handed the bonsai to the admittedly-confused Iceland, bowed slightly, and walked away.  
Iceland looked at the plant. Then he looked at the departing man.  
"Wait! Who are you? Come bac—_This isn't my tree_!" he shouted after him, and was ignored.  
Iceland looked around. "This isn't my tree," he said plaintively. He looked at Sweden and Norway, and held out the bonsai. "Would you like a tree?"

"…"

"…"

"The end."  
"That's your story?" Norway asked.  
"Yup."  
"Well, it was an…um…_interesting_ one," Finland said, trying to find the correct word.  
"It was AWESOME!" Denmark cheered.  
"You made that up as you went along, didn't you, Sandy?" Iceland inquired.  
"…..Yes."


	11. 11: FLUFF FLUFF EVERYWHERE

"Hey Iceland!" I shouted, running down the stairs the next morning a few hours after breakfast.

"Yes, what is it?" The nation asked, sitting in the living room, watching TV with Denmark and Sweden.

"Have you gone to plaid?"

"….What?"

"Have you gone to plaid?" I asked, perfectly serious.

"….I don't know what you're-"

"HAVE YOU GONE TO PLAID, YES OR NO!?"

"NO!"

"Good. That's all I needed to hear." I turned around and walked back up to my room like nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. Well, for me, that IS ordinary. But apparently, for Iceland it wasn't ordinary. He shuddered, remembering the stickers when he first appeared in my house. _Not this again_, he thought.

Then, I went up to Norway, who was in the kitchen, reading a newspaper. Why; I will never know.

"Norway, can I ask you a question?"

"Obviously you've just done so, but go ahead."

"Who do you think would win a fight-you or a shark?"

"…"

"…"

"Me."

"Good." I turned and left, heading over to Denmark.

"Do you know about the Quantum Theory?"

"No. Why are you-"

"BAZINGA!" I shouted, and then ran away, laughing like a maniac.

Then I raced over to Sweden, who was staring at me weirdly.

"Sweden, I have FEW questions to ask you."

"Go ah'd."

"Okay. If all the nations are in debt, where did all the money go?"

"…I d'nno."

"Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?"

"Does it m'tter?

"Yes."

"Cl'sed."

"Are you loved?"

"Wh't?"

"Are you loved?"

"I d'n-"

"Physically."

At this, Sweden blushed. HARD. Hah.

"Are you loved physically?"

"….Not y't."

"Okay." Then I proceeded to find Finland; he was in his and Sweden's room.

"Hey, Finland!" I exclaimed, jumping onto the massive bed beside him. I'm not kidding; that thing is HUGE. Hah. It could probably fit all six of us on it.

"Oh hi Sandy! What brings you here?"

"I want to ask you a question."

"Okay, what is it?"

"If two gooses are geese, then why aren't two moose meese, and when two foots are feet, then why aren't two footballs feetball?"

"Hmm…Good question! I don't exactly know."

"Alright, then I'll ask you a different question: If I had an army of rabid purple cats with flamethrowers at my command, what would you do to fight?"

"I'd run away, crying for help because I wouldn't know what to do."

"Good enough. Okay, that's it, bye!" I turned and left the room as Finland waved.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, without any more weird and awkward questions. There were a few odd things that happened, though. Take lunch, for example. We were eating together, and there was plenty to say. Except that all the stuff I said was in German. Most of it was very random, but it was German nonetheless.

"Du bist schön," I said to Sweden.

"….Huh?"

"Nichts…"

"I don't kn'w wh't you're s'ying."

"Der Großrechner ist gebrochen, und nichts werde arbeit."

"Speak Engl'sh pl'se."

"LOL! I fail at German."

Nothing else was said for the rest of the meal.

The sun had already gone down, and the two lamps beside Finland and Sweden's bed were turned on. The light gave the room an orange tinge to it. The reason I knew this was because I was hiding in said room. Well, I was scrunched up in a ball under the bed. Why? Because the Nordics and I were playing a good ol' game of hide-and-seek; Denmark suggested it, so therefore, he was the first one to look for us.

I froze as soon as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. What was minutes felt like hours as the nation checked all the rooms, leaving the one I was in for last. But it seemed like he had found some of the other nations first, for I could hear quiet mumbling. My breathing stopped as the countries entered the room. I recognized the socked feet of Sweden and Norway, and the bare feet of Iceland and Denmark. That's kind of creepy. Actually, I knew it was them because of what they were wearing: casual, comfortable clothes for wearing around the house.

"Do you think she's here?" Iceland asked softly.

"Of course!" Denmark replied, "We couldn't find her anywhere else!"

"She could be hiding somewhere only she knows," Norway pitched in.

"Don't be such a downer, Norgie!"

"Don't call me that."

As Norway said that, I climbed up from underneath the bed, and crawled on top. All of the nations except for Denmark, who had his back turned, saw me. I put a finger to my lips to signal silence. They nodded in understanding. Like a cougar, I crept to the end of a bed to pick up a soft, flimsy pillow. I crept back to the other end just as Denmark checked under the bed. Just as the spiky-haired nation raised his head, I swung the pillow as hard as I could and hit Denmark square in the face.

"Hey!" He spluttered, as I laughed.

"Got you!" I shouted.

"It's time for revenge!" Denmark exclaimed, grabbing another pillow and taking a swing. I blocked it with my own pillow, letting out a sharp burst of laughter. I picked up more spare pillows, and threw them at Iceland and Sweden. As for Norway, before I threw him his pillow, I hit him. The pillow exploded into a million soft feathers.

"Whoops," I said. I ran to the closet and brought out a thicker pillow. In case you're wondering, I have A LOT of spare pillows. I like to cuddle up in them when watching movies.

"Here." I handed Norway the pillow. Then the battle commenced. Another pillow exploded.

"Is hide-and-seek over?" A voice asked. The voice belonged to Finland, who was standing in the doorframe. The game paused for a second as we took in the interruption. I grabbed a handful of the feathers and threw them into the air shouting,

"FLUFF! FLUFF EVERYWHERE!" Sweden tried to take advantage of my guard being let down, and took a swing at my back. The breath was slightly knocked out of me. I turned around, shouting

"OH NO YOU DI-IN'T!" I 'z snapped' the air, picking up my pillow with my free hand. I whacked Sweden with my weapon, thus resuming the fight. Out of the corner of my eye as I was mercilessly beating up Sweden, I saw Finland pick up a pillow and join the fight.

I don't know how long this continued, but eventually all six of us collapsed on the giant bed, exhausted.

"What's the time?" I asked Iceland breathlessly. Iceland, who was closest to the clock glanced over and replied

"It's like 10 o' clock."

"It's late," Norway commented. I stifled a yawn. Denmark glanced at me, then got up from the bed and closed the bedroom door. He then came over the side, and shut one out of two lamps off. He wrestled the covers out from under us and said

"Get in!"

"Oh yay! It's like a sleepover, but in the same bed!" Finland exclaimed as we all crawled under the covers. Denmark giggled immaturely at the statement as he turned off the second lamp, plunging the room into pitch blackness. I heard and felt Denmark crawl into the space beside me. On the far left were Iceland, then Norway, then Denmark, then me, then Sweden, and finally, Finland on the far left. I yawned again, and snuggled deeper into the bed.

"Good night, guys," I whispered.

"Hyvää yötä!"

"Góða nótt."

"God natt."

"G'd n'tt."

"Godnat, Sandy."

I felt the body heat of Denmark and Sweden radiating on me. Their heartbeats were calming, lulling me to sleep.

**A/N: **ERMAGERD! *spazzes* You guys are amazing! 37 reviews? This story is more popular than any of the other stuff I've done in my life. So, I thank you guys. A LOT. Let's see if we can get to 45! And also, I have to ask you guys: I've already planned out most of the story. So, do you want me to write a sequel? I have a tendency to go all Germany on stuff and plan ahead. WAY far ahead. :P So tell me what you guys want! And also, I have a DeviantArt account, so I would be very happy if you guys comment on my stuff, or at least check it out. Here: Alright! Incredibly long author's note out!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	12. 12: Finland Discovers Yaoi

**A/N:** Ahem…Sorry for that little mix-up. ^.^;;;;;; My documents got mixed up somehow when my computer was checked over, and I didn't realize what I was copying and pasting. So, I apologize. God, that was embarrassing…. I felt like Sweden when I realized what went wrong…That mix-up chapter was from my Hetalia Madness fanfic. If you thought the mix-up chapter was funny, I recommend you to check that fic out! Here is the actual chapter! ^.^'''

I woke up the next morning to the sound of squirrels in my backyard screaming at each other. Or, it could have been Denmark snoring. Both are pretty loud. As I sat up and looked around, I noticed Finland and Iceland were missing. _They're early risers,_ I thought. Glancing at the clock, I read the time. _It's already nine?! Holy Roman Empire! I slept in for 2 hours! _

I leaped out of bed and went down the stairs. I could already hear sizzling, and the delicious smell of bacon wafted near me.

"BACON!" I exclaimed, jumping right behind Finland, who was standing in front of the stove.

"AHH! Oh, Sandy, you scared me!"

I grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"So, what do you want to do today?" Finland asked, changing the subject.

"I dunno," I shrugged. "Maybe just hang out here for today. I don't really feel like going anywhere. You guys can, though, if you want to."

"No, that's alright! If you don't want to do anything, we won't."

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Ok, but I hate restricting your freedom."

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Finland said airily, waving a hand. Just then, Sweden and Norway came down the stairs, closely followed by Denmark. Said nation yawned, and stated

"My shirt is itchy and I wish I were dead."

"Hey, that's the kind of thing I'm supposed to say!" I protested indignantly.

"Exactly. I'm trying to see what's so fun about doing it."

"It's just the way I am. I can't help it."

"I still don't get you."

"Good."

Breakfast passed uneventfully, and nothing much happened after it either. It was what happened after lunch that was eventful.

First things first: When it comes to fanfiction, I'm not a romance person. Most of the fics I read are always either parodies, or pure crack. I like the humor genre. But occasionally I read a romance one that I happened to stumble upon, which was what I was doing on the computer in my room right now. It happened to be a SuFin fic, and a lemon at that.

I had just started reading, when my stomach started making the rumblies. I went downstairs to fix myself a sandwich. I've always wanted to tell someone 'Cool story bro. Now make me a sandwich.' But I didn't want to do it to the Nordics, so I told it to myself. Out loud. This probably attracted stares from the countries that were upstairs.

As I bounced down the stairs, I guess Finland had gotten curious about what I do in my room all the time. Now, Finland isn't someone to nose around secretly; he usually asks first. But I guess the feeling was too powerful, so he snuck through the open door into my room.

He glanced around my orange and blue walls, feeling guilty. Then his eyes landed on my computer screen. Looking around him feverishly, he sat down in my chair and quickly read the story up on the monitor. The more he read the more his eyes widened. His mouth dropped open in pure shock, the disturbed look upon his face clearly evident. Now, I could say his mouth started foaming and he fell on the ground twitching, but that would be exaggerating. He finished reading, standing up. But his legs had become Jell-o, and couldn't support him anymore. He collapsed to the carpeted floor with a thud. Of course, Fate decides to be mean towards Finland and I, so I happened to walk in on him while he was shivering on the ground.

"Finland!" I shrieked. "Why did you do that?!" The nation only whimpered in response.

Of course, Fate is even meaner than we thought, so the rest of the Nordics came in to see what the matter was.

"What's going on here?" Denmark asked, peeking in. "Finland, why are you on the floor?"

"Szhszhszhszhszh…"

"Ummm….." Iceland hummed, glancing down. Norway had made his way into the room, and was now reading what was on the computer screen.

"This," was what all he said. Sweden came in the room next and read it, the blush rising heavily on his cheeks. He didn't even bother hiding it; it was too noticeable anyway. Denmark read it next, and laughed.

"People seriously write this kind of stuff? Sandy, I didn't know you read this kind of thing."

"I don't! I just happened to come across it! I was going to exit out! I don't read that stuff!"

A wild awkward appeared!

Go Iceland!

The wild awkward used Awkward!

It was super effective!

Iceland ran away from the fight.

Finland lost his innocence.

After that whole ordeal, I continued to carry on my day like it had never happened. Finland recovered about 5 hours after, and was back to his normal, cheery self. The day continued.

After supper, or dinner, whatever you want to call it, we gathered in the living room like we always did to just hang out. When we did this we never necessarily talked, it was just being in the same room. Of course, for Norway, he tried to make the best out of it by turning on the TV to cartoons for Denmark. That usually shuts him up.

With a sigh, Norway shut his book. The sudden noise attracted all of our attentions, so our heads swiveled around to look at said nation.

"Sandy, can you tell a story?" He asked. I looked at him in surprise.

"Why?"

"Cause I like your stories." This seemed very out of character for Norway.

"Ummm….okay. I'll just continue the one from before, since my readers like it so much," I replied.

"Sandy, stop breaking the fourth wall," Iceland scolded.

"Whatever. Okay, so, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and the bonsai walked through the cornfield. Not that the tree walked, because it didn't. Walk, you know. It was carried. Specifically by Iceland, who continued protesting that it wasn't his tree. Everyone else walked. Until they came upon a harpoon.

Iceland handed the bonsai to Sweden and picked up the harpoon. He examined it minutely for upwards of three minutes.

"I think it's a harpoon," Iceland finally concluded.

"I th'nk you're r'ght," Sweden agreed, slightly amused and slightly annoyed at Iceland's lengthy deliberation to arrive at this conclusion.

"Though it seems to be made of some sponge-like substance," The nation mused. For the twenty-first century readers, it seems reasonable to put in that it was really rather similar in substance to a Nerf football. Not that Iceland would know about Nerf footballs.

"So…what should I _do_ with the harpoon?" Iceland asked.

"I believe most people throw them at whales," Norway said dryly.

Iceland shrugged. "Okay." And then he threw the harpoon.

Sweden blinked. "Ic'land, we're in a c'rnfield. Th're's no—"

A cry rent the still night air. "HAHUWAGGA!"

Iceland put a hand to his ear. "Was that a whale? I think that was a whale. Did anyone else hear a whale?"

"Iceland, how can you possibly identify a whale by _sound_?" Norway asked, clearly in doubt of the nation's abilities in that regard.

Said nation laid a hand on his chest. "After many years of being the personification of an island nation one learns the calls of the sea creatures."

"Perhaps, but I really doubt that whales are likely to shriek 'HAHUWAGGA!' to the skies," Norway pointed out, calmly enough except for the shout in the middle. Sweden looked at him funny due to that middle section of the sentence. You know, the HAHUWAGGA part.

"Not at all!" Iceland waxed poetic. "Many times while out sailing, water all around as far as the eye can see, I have heard the song of the whales, as they shriek their call of 'HAHUWAGGA!' to the stars above…" He shrugged. "Or else I just took a guess that it was a whale. What else would be shouting 'HAHUWAGGA!' anyway?"

Sweden stared at them, and shook his head. "You're b'th cr'zy."

Meanwhile elsewhere in the cornfield, a Nerf harpoon had just hit Denmark.

But back with Iceland, Norway and Sweden. And the bonsai, of course. They continued walking. Judging by position of the stars, they'd been walking for upwards of an hour. (Iceland apparently knew something about navigating by the stars, and therefore about telling time by them, and that seemed more likely than his knowledge of the calls of sea creature. Though he didn't seem to know enough to be able to navigate by them on land.) The cornfield just wasn't that big. They were obviously going in circles. Iceland suggested that they split up. It would be easy to divide the group: they'd simply do it evenly. Sweden and Norway would go One Direction, Iceland and the bonsai would go another.

Such was the plan, and such was what they did. This continued for slightly more than twenty minutes, with nothing happening.

And then, after slightly more than twenty minutes, something happened.

Sweden and Norway jumped back as a giant, boxy form fell through the corn on their left and hit the ground with a thump. They stared at it.

"I…th'nk it's a m'ttress," Sweden ventured.

"Why is there a mattress in a cornfield?" Norway asked.

"Why is th're a s'lad b'wl?" Sweden countered. "W'th a c'pe?"

"Good question. Iceland's right. It's a strange place."

Sweden grunted absently, walking up to the mattress and poking it with his foot.

"Sweden, be careful," Norway warned.

The country shrugged. "It's a m'ttress. Wh't is it g'ing to d' to m'? Tho'gh kn'wing this pl'ce, it might be s'me k'nd of psycho killer m'ttress that eats p'ople ali—"

At that moment the mattress opened and swallowed the personification of Sweden.

Norway stared at the mattress, frozen. "Sweden?" he whispered.

The mattress made a sound remarkably like a burp.

"_Sweden_!"

There was no further response.

Norway stood there, heart hammering, unsure what to do. Fighting with other Vikings was one thing, fighting with a carnivorous mattress was another thing entirely, and he was at something of a loss. He considered shouting Sweden's name again, but had to admit that it probably wouldn't help. In fact, there was probably only one thing he could shout, one thing in the entire world that had any likelihood of helping. "ICELAND!"

The cornstalks parted and said nation's head emerged. "You hollered?"

Norway pointed at the mattress. "A mattress just ate Sweden!"

Iceland blinked. "A mattress ate him? Really?"

"Don't just stand there! _Do_ something!"

Iceland eyed the mattress uncomfortably. "Um…I have a funny feeling it doesn't like me."

Norway threw up his hands. "A mattress is digesting Sweden and you're worried about the mattress' _company preferences_?"

Iceland shrugged. "All right, all right. Here. Hold the tree." Once the bonsai was given to Norway, Iceland approached the mattress. He frowned at it. "Open. Sesame?"

No response.

Iceland kicked the mattress. "Come on. _Open_!"

It didn't. Desperate measures were required.

Iceland jumped up and down on the mattress. "Release the country! My country! Not your country!" Somewhere in the middle of his bouncing, Iceland lost his footing. "Whoops." His feet went out from under him and he flopped face-down on the mattress. He bounced once. From this new vantage point, he noticed the zipper on one side of the mattress. He yanked the zipper down, and stuck his head in. "Sweden? You in there?"

And before anyone could so much as blink, the mattress swallowed the personification of Iceland.

Norway looked at the mattress, then looked at the tree. "I don't think this is good," he told it.

Actually, in a strange sort of way, it was. The mattress shivered, turned green, and spat Iceland out. The nation had one hand clapped to his head and the other one attached to Sweden's wrist. It took a few yanks, once Iceland was out, to pull Sweden out as well, but Iceland managed it. Both men were somewhat the worse for wear, with bits of cotton stuffing sticking to them.

Iceland looked at the mattress with a superior expression. "I told you. My country."

Norway pushed the bonsai at Iceland and hurried to see about Sweden, who was looking somewhat dazed.

"Th't was…v'ry str'nge," he said faintly.

"Could've been worse," Iceland said matter-of-factly. "We could've been sucked into the fiery pits of Hell."

Sweden and Norway stared at him for a moment, then decided to ignore that.

"Why did it spit you out, Iceland?" Norway asked, purely out of curiosity. And it didn't really make a lot of sense.

"I taste bad," Iceland said simply. Seeing their blank looks, he shrugged. "It's the fish."

The words were barely finished being said when a man appeared in front of Iceland. Not that there was any connection. They just happened to be simultaneous. Anyway, a man appeared. He didn't look like a Viking, and he didn't look like a soldier, and he really didn't look like anyone else from the village. Blue jeans, a sweatshirt, sneakers. Iceland, Sweden and Norway stared at him.

"Mind if I cut in? I'll just be a minute."

Iceland looked at him, confused. "Where did you come from?"

"I was watching from behind the cameras," the man said briskly.

"Cameras?"

"And I had to commend you on your superb acting."

"Acting?"

"I have never seen anyone be eaten by a mattress with such grace, such form! Such _emotion_!" the man raved.

Iceland stared at him. "What?"

"Really, an incredible acting job, Johnny!"

Iceland backed up and flung his arms out, swaying as though caught in a high wind or an earthquake. "WHOAH, _whoah_, whoah, I'm sensing confusion here! Let's get this straight." He laid a hand on his chest. "The name's_ Iceland. _Iceland _is_ the long version for John. So is Johnny. But no one calls me Johnny." He leaned forward, menacingly. "_No one_." He considered. "Well, except my father."

The man grinned. "Sure, Johnny. Always in character, aren't you?"

Iceland frowned at him. "Alright, I've got three questions for you." He held up a finger. "One: who are you?" He held up a second finger. "Two: do you know a way out of this cornfield?" He held up a third finger. "And three…" He held up the bonsai. "Would you like a tree?"

The man laughed. "Beautiful, Johnny, beautiful. You just keep up the good work, I gotta run." He took two steps forward and vanished.

Iceland stared at the spot where the man had been. "What was that? Who was that?" he asked wildly. "One second I'm being eaten by a mattress, and the next a second a guy jumps out and is shouting 'BRILL-iant!' at me!"

To which questions Sweden and Norway had no answers."

**A/N: **Wassup peeps?! I decided to continue the story in a story because you guys like it so much. Tell me if you want more of it! Anyway, now I've decided to make a review goal. I set a goal to obtain a certain number of reviews, and its up to you guys to fulfill that! Our review goal for this week is 54! Can we reach it?

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	13. 13: Not All, just One is Lost

I woke up the next morning on the couch, wrapped up in blankets next to Sweden, who was asleep as well. Lifting my head from Sweden's shoulder, I yawned, looking around. Iceland and Finland were gone, but Denmark was still sprawled out on the floor, snoring. _How can he sleep on the floor like that_? I wondered. I glanced past Sweden and saw Norway leaning on Sweden's other side, sound asleep. I then noticed the blankets I was wrapped up in were also covering the other two nations.

Finland peeked around the corner from the living room to the kitchen and caught my eye, smiling at me.

"You three looked so cute, sleeping together like that!" He whispered. I scowled, getting up from the couch. We must have fallen asleep after I told my story. My movement and the sudden breeze on Sweden's right side woke him up; he stretched and blinked tiredly, reaching for his glasses on the table between the couch and TV. Sweden uncovered himself and stood up, making sure to step on Denmark as he went into the kitchen. Denmark awoke with a strangled gasp, thus awakening Norway as well.

Finland had already prepared breakfast with Iceland, making porridge.

"Ooh, I haven't had this in a long time," I said, taking the bowl the short nation gave to me.

"You like it?" The nation asked.

"Yep! But I kinda forgot I had it. The only thing I used to eat for breakfast was cereal. That was before you guys came along…." I was silent for a bit as I remembered what life was like without the Nordics.

"But living with you guys is so much better than living alone. It seems like ages ago when you first came here." I smiled nostalgically. "I accidentally summoned you using a spell I didn't know worked in June. But in reality, it's been like, three months. I've never been closer to anyone in my life, apart from my parents. You guys are the best, you know? I don't know how I lived without you." All six of us stood in the kitchen silently. It wasn't an awkward silence, more like a friendly one. My gaze roamed over Finland, who had his eyes closed and was smiling at me, making a quiet noise. Then, it passed over Sweden, who was as stoic as ever. But I could detect a slight softness in his eyes as he grunted. Then I looked at Iceland, who albeit was looking uncomfortable, still glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. I could hear a slight sigh coming from him. My gaze then reached Norway, who sighed as well, looking at me intensely. Finally, my eyes rested on Denmark, who made a quiet happy noise, smiling widely at me, eyes sparkling with youthful energy. It was just like in an anime, only in real life. It was kind of corny actually, but it reminded me of how lucky I was to have them. But just as quickly as it came, the moment disappeared. Breakfast continued as normal, with me being quieter than usual.

I stumbled into the living room where all the Nordics were watching TV. I was tripping over my own feet, and couldn't walk in a straight line. The countries glanced at me curiously.

"Sandy, are you drunk?" Denmark asked.

"no, just dizzy,"? (1) I replied, shaking my head. Norway and Iceland sighed, as Finland giggled.

"Cool! I want to do it too!" Denmark exclaimed. He got up, and then we headed into the kitchen where we could spin around without getting in anyone's way. After a minute, we came back, giggling and stumbling.

"Thjiis is so fun, " Denmark laughed.

"I konnw, right?" I nbbbbbbbbbbbbb xbbbbbbbbb(2)

The other nations just ignored us.

"Hey, let's go for a walk!" I exclaimed. The nations looked up, and then glanced at the clock.

"Sandy, it's like 10 o'clock," Iceland protested. "It's dark out."

"That's the fun part!" I countered. "It's really relaxing, taking a walk when it's dark out. Right now, it's not too cold, and the streets aren't busy. It'll be fun!"

"Ya, I agree with Sandy!" Finland pitched in.

"Me too!" Denmark agreed.

"I'm doin' wh'tev'r Finl'nd's doin'."

"…I guess it wouldn't hurt…" Iceland trailed off.

"Then it's settled," I confirmed. "Let's go!"

We headed out of the door into the cool night air. I breathed in and out, relaxing deeply. We turned left straight after, because my house is at the corner. We headed down the quieter part of my neighborhood, where the house lights became sparse, then slowly disappeared completely. It was silent, but again, it was a nice silence, not an awkward one. I rubbed my hands together. I was trying to coax some heat into them. It was a bit colder than I expected. _I should've brought gloves, _I mentally cursed myself. Norway, who was walking beside me, noticed my plight. He glanced down, grabbing one of my hands and snaking it into the pocket of his jacket. I looked up at him gratefully, saying nothing. The look I gave him told him my thanks. He only nodded in response. My gaze wandered to the heavens. There was no moon in the sky; it was pitch black except for the stars, sprinkled across the sky, gleaming red, yellow, white, and blue. I looked up to gaze at them twinkling down on me, as if they were watching over me, telling me I'll always be safe, always with the Nordics. But that was wrong.

All of a sudden, I heard a shout, and footsteps thudding on the pavement. I was yanked back by Norway as a body came hurtling towards us. There was scuffling and grunting as I could hear Sweden trying to fight someone with his fists, as Denmark fought off another person, with Iceland and Finland cowering behind his back. Norway let go of my hand, turned to me and said

"Stay." Then he ran to help Sweden and Denmark. What Norway forgot, was that there was the third person not fighting anyone. That person charged me again from behind, effectively wrapping his arms around me, holding a knife to my throat. I squeaked in surprise.

"Freeze!" He shouted. Everyone stopped, and turned towards my captor. But I was worried about something else. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

"..L-Lucas?" I stammered.

"So, you figured it out," My brother said. I looked up, and could just see the faint outline of his face grinning maliciously down at me. I squinted through the darkness at the other people, pinpointing them as Jenna fighting Denmark and Felix fighting Sweden. All three of my siblings had knives, and a small gun which they had not brought out yet.

"What are you doing here?!" Denmark demanded, eyebrows drawn in a deep scowl.

"We're simply going out for a stroll, same as you," Lucas replied.

"I doubt that," The nation snarled. My oldest sibling just 'hmmphed' and smirked.

_Zip!_

Sweden shouted out in surprise, clutching his neck. The nations and I glanced over to Felix, who had his gun out, and was smiling evilly.

_Zip!_

Another shot was made, this time by Jenna, who shot it at Denmark. The Danish country gasped and clapped a hand to his neck. Finland had now worked up the courage to slap the dart gun out of Felix and Jenna's hand, diving down to the pavement to pick them up. I glanced worriedly at Sweden, who had a dazed expression on his face. He staggered forward, eyes drooping shut. I could see Denmark struggling against the drug, doing his best to keep himself from falling asleep. Lucas suddenly let go of me and ran up to Denmark, taking out rope from his belt loops. He, Jenna, and Felix worked quickly to tie the nation up, not even flinching at the weak punches Denmark tried to throw, but ended up missing entirely.

"Run! Take Sweden and run!" He slurred. My siblings, who had successfully tied him up, started dragging him away.

"NO!" I screamed, running into the darkness. But it was too late. Bright headlights flooded my vision, blinding me temporarily as my siblings drove off, bringing Denmark with them. I stood there in the steadily dimming light, trying not to break down. I glanced over my shoulder at the three other nations, who looked just as grieved as I did. Sweden was lying on the pavement, head twisted to the side, completely out cold.

"Come on," Iceland said quietly, taking my arm. I tugged reluctantly towards where the car disappeared, but Iceland's grip was more forceful. Finland and Norway together hoisted Sweden onto their shoulders, draping the larger nation's arms around them to keep him upright. His feet dragged on the cold cement as they started off. Iceland pulled on my arm to start me walking. I took three awkward steps before I broke down completely, sobbing into Iceland's jacket as we walked home. Everyone was silent, except for my despaired cries. But I could feel a drop of a salty tear land on my head from Iceland as he quietly stroked my hair, telling me everything will be alright. But he was wrong.

**A/N: **Whew, that's over and done with! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. But now there's an actual plot! Now for the numbers earlier in this chapter: (1) I actually got dizzy and tried to type that. It was fun! :D (2) I got kinda sick after, so I laid my head on the keyboard. I decided to keep that bit in for a bit of nonsensical humor. Now, our review goal is 57! Let's see if we can make it!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	14. 14: Finland Makes me Cheer Everyone Up

**A/N:** Extra long chapter for you guys! :D

As soon as my eyes got adjusted to the lights of my house, I wanted to collapse on the couch and stay there until the end of Time. But Finland and Norway were struggling to haul the unconscious Sweden up the stairs. Like a robot, I walked over to them and wrapped my arm around Sweden's torso as the other two held the rest of his body. Together, we managed to drag him up the stairs and into his and Finland's room.

Iceland was nowhere to be found as I shut all the lights off on the main floor. _Probably_ _in his room_, I thought. I headed back up the stairs and into my room, where I flopped on my bed, not bothering to change into pajamas.

I lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Denmark. My siblings are evil! After what they did to their own sister all those years ago, who knows what they could be doing to the spiky-haired nation? Then I became aware of how alone I was. Not just because of a missing Denmark, but because of no one sleeping beside me. It's been a very long time since I slept by myself, in my own bed, and it felt foreign. I needed someone beside me. I got up and quietly snuck out my room. I contemplated going into Sweden and Finland's room, but decided against it. After the previous events, I didn't want to seem clingy. I tiptoed down two flights of stairs to the basement, where I paused at Norway's bedroom door. Opening the door, I peered in, and found that Norway was asleep. I snuck into his room, closing the door behind me. I went over to the side of his bed and quietly, I tried getting under the covers. Norway stirred, and looked up at me, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Without a word, he moved over to give me room. I gave him a grateful look and snuggled deeper into the bed.

Norway was not beside me when I woke up. For a second, I completely forgot that one of us was missing, and I was excited to spend the day hanging out with the Nordics. But then the memory of last night hit me, making me immediately miserable again. I dragged my feet up the stairs into the kitchen, where Finland was again making breakfast.

"Here you go, Sandy!" Finland chirped, handing me a plate of waffles. He was trying to be cheerful, to lighten up the mood. But it was all in vain, for it did nothing to make us feel better. I took my plate silently and sat down at the table. The rest of the Nordics were up, Sweden as well, looking the same as he normally did. He stared at me as I sat down, but looked away as soon as we made eye contact. The next few minutes were quiet as we all concentrated on eating.

Just then my text sound went off.

_What the fu-BOOOOOMMM!_

I headed over to the counter and checked my messages.

"….My siblings just texted me."

Everyone dropped their utensils.

"What?!" Iceland exclaimed.

"They're being stupid and revealing their plan to me."

"That IS incredibly stupid," Iceland agreed.

"What did they say?" Norway asked.

"They said they've informed the government about your guys' secrets, so now the government wants to capture you guys and figure out what makes you hideous freaks of nature, as my siblings put it. They said the government appointed them in charge of this situation."

"Do you know what they're going to do to us countries?" Finland inquired, trying to hide the terrified look on his face.

"I don't know exactly. But knowing us humans, they're probably scared of you, and whatever scares humans, they destroy," I replied grimly. "But how do they even know you're nations?"

"Umm, I hate to tell you this Sandy, but…" Iceland trailed off.

"What? What is it?" I asked, starting to panic.

"When your siblings visited, you accidentally called me Iceland instead of Emil."

"I don't even remember that! Why didn't my siblings bring it up?"

"They knew we were different. They just wanted to keep quiet about it at that time. After all, how do five random guys end up living in your house? Plus, they might have been told about that anime about us, Hetalia, and knew it was us."

"Sandy," Finland said, putting down his fork.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering if you could continue telling that story. I know we found out information about our predicament, but let's just relax for today and try to get our minds off of stuff."

"Are you serious?! Denmark could be in serious danger right now, and you want us to relax?!" I exclaimed.

"I don't c're if D'nmark's in d'nger."

"Yes you do," I countered. "You just don't know it, or else too proud to admit it."

"Sandy, please?" Finland pleaded. "Just for today?"

I hesitated. "Fine." I reluctantly sat back down and continued with the mini story.

"As you will recall from the last part, Iceland, Sweden and Norway were left with a lot of questions. This was not all they were left with. They were also left with a mattress.

"So…what are we going to do with the mattress?" Norway asked, eyeing it uncomfortably.

Iceland considered. He studied the mattress thoughtfully for a long moment, then asked the question that was simply begging to be asked. He held up the bonsai. "Would you like a tree?"

"You're going to give the bonsai to the mattress?" Norway questioned incredulously.

Iceland shrugged extensively. "It looks lonely."

"It _ate_ you and Sweden!"

"Well, yes, that's true," Iceland acknowledged, "but we shouldn't discriminate based on diet preferences."

"I don't believe this," Norway muttered.

"Anyway, it doesn't look like it wants a tree," Iceland concluded.

Not only did the mattress appear uninterested in the tree, it appeared uninterested in them too. In fact, it was leaving. Rapidly. And while it's difficult to explain how exactly a mattress can run, it was doing it rather well.

"Good ridd'nce," Sweden muttered. "M'ybe things'll s'ttle down a l'ttle n'w…"

Famous last words.

They had barely begun their wandering through the cornfield again when there was a flourish, and the squeaky voice was back.

"Able to change the course of mighty banquets! Able to bend steel knives with sheer will power! Look! Up in the sky!—"

"We've heard it," Norway said bluntly.

The squeaky voice changed tack, and continued unperturbed.

"The salad bowl is not picky, _nor_ is it tasty. But it _is_ powerful! _All hail the salad bowl_!"

Sweden frowned.

"Wh't?"

Iceland looked at the bowl, looked at the plant in his hands, then looked back at the bowl. He held out the bonsai.

"Would _you_ like a tree?"

"The Superbowl has no time for trees! He must sally forth to protect the lettuce of the world!"

Sallying forth apparently involved flying straight towards Iceland, Sweden and Norway.

"_Hit the deck_!" Iceland roared, crashing into Sweden and Norway, somehow hanging onto the bonsai as well.

The Superbowl and accompanying flying saucers whizzed by overhead. The three nations slowly pulled themselves back to standing positions.

Iceland was having a thought.

"Does anyone else have the feeling that that's a very wealthy salad bowl?"

Sweden and Norway stared at him.

"No…somehow that thought just hadn't entered my mind," Norway drawled. "What leads you to that conclusion?"

Iceland shrugged.

"It's not attacking for profit. This is ritual."

"I h've no idea wh't he's t'lking ab'ut," Sweden said to the world in general.

"It's okay, Sve," Iceland said, clapping Sweden on the shoulder. "We can't all understand the deep mental workings of salad bowls." That said, he continued jauntily along down the row of corn, leaving Sweden and Norway to follow in his wake.

It was almost an hour before anything really interesting happened. And because it would make a very boring story to write about the hour in which nothing happened, we won't. We'll just skip on ahead an hour, to the moment when the man appeared between the rows of corn. This man is not to be confused with the one who gave Iceland the bonsai, or the one who had raved about Johnny's…er, Iceland's performance. Not that this one looked like he belonged in the Viking village any more than the last few had. This one, in fact, was vaguely reminiscent of King Arthur. Though he didn't look like King Arthur…more like a very lowly servant somewhere in the boonies of Camelot perhaps…provided one even managed to be reminded of Arthur to begin with. In any case, a man definitely appeared from between the corn.

The man looked at them. They looked back. The man spoke first.

"Hello. I am a shrubber. Roger the shrubber. I grow shrubberies."

Iceland blinked.

"Hello. I'm a country." He shrugged. "Iceland …I'm not technically a Viking. But I try to act like one. I…pillage. And plunder. And rifle and loot, and kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. And extort and pilfer and filch and sack. And maraud and embezzle. Even hijack."

"Maybe we _should_ let Denmark get him," Norway said thoughtfully.

Sweden just grunted.

Iceland was continuing oblivious.

"And kindle and char and enflame and ignite. I burn up cities. Really, I'm a fright. And a beggar and a blighter and a ne'er do well cad. Although my mother loves me. I'm also a rascal and a scoundrel and a villain and a knave. A devil, and a black sheep. All in all…" Iceland smiled blissfully. "I'm a _really_ bad egg."

Roger the shrubber nodded.

"That's nice."

"Not very," Iceland disagreed. "That's the point."

"You also have a shrubbery," Roger the shrubber observed.

Iceland glanced at the bonsai. "It's a tree."

"A shrubbery," Roger the shrubber countered.

"A tree."

"Shrubbery."

"Tree."

"Shrubbery."

"Tree."

"Shrubbery."

"Tree."

"Shrubbery."

"Shrubbery."

"Tre—" Roger the shrubbery broke off. "You cheated!"

Iceland shrugged.

"_Viking_."

"More importantly, you have a plant. As shrubber, it is my duty to see that all plants and shrubberies are properly cared for."

"That's…noble," The silver haired nation said dubiously.

"That shrubbery—"

"Tree."

"—_shrubbery_ needs to be in the proper hands. Are _yours_ the proper hands?" Roger the shrubber asked.

Iceland glanced at his hands.

"Uh…what?"

"_My_ shrubbery," Roger the shrubber said, snatched the bonsai, and ran off down the row of corn.

"Hey! Wait—you—come—you stole my _tree_!" Iceland shouted after him, sounding not unlike England. "He stole my tree!" he said plaintively to Sweden and Norway.

"I th'ght it w'sn't your tree," Sweden reminded him.

"It isn't my tree," Iceland said hastily. "But I, well, I…I kind of got attached to it! It's a nice little tree, and nobody wanted him, and—"

"Him?" Norway repeated.

Iceland shrugged.

"I named it Hector."

"_Hector_…"

"Well, yeah, because…never mind why, I've got to go catch the shrubber." And with that Iceland set off down the row, leaving the slightly confuzzled Sweden and Norway behind him.

The two said nations continued on down the corn. What else were they going to do? It wasn't long for them before something else happened. And, interestingly enough, it happened in the form of a man emerging between the corn. This one appeared to belong to the Viking village more than the last few had. You see, it was Iceland.

Said nation staggered out, hair completely dishevelled, bonsai under one arm. He squinted at the other two countries, then squinted again to make sure he was identifying them correctly.

"You."

"Hello, Iceland," Norway said. "You look a little…worse for wear."

Iceland slung an arm around Norway's shoulder. "Noregur -Nor -Nor-Norway, Norgie-Nor-Nor."

Norway blinked at him. "Um."

"You've always been good to me, Noregur, so I just want to warn you," Iceland paused dramatically "_Beware-_"

—of the l'w flying s'lad b'wl," Sweden interrupted. "We kn'w."

"NO!" Iceland said, then blinked and said, "Well, yes. But also—_beware of running with scissors_! Or any other sharp pointy objects! It's all fun and games until someone loses an—AIEEE!"

Iceland flung the bonsai out (which was caught by a startled Norway) as he fell face forward. He hit the ground with a thunk, as the salad bowl flew through, the squeaky voice loudly proclaiming Superbowl's intention to protect the culinary way.

Norway bent over Iceland, while Sweden watched, strangely uncomfortable.

"D' you h've the feeling we sh'uld b' fleeing?" Sweden asked.

Norway stared at him.

"No."

"Oh." Sweden shrugged. "N'ver mind th'n."

They managed to get Iceland awake without too much difficulty. And once awake, the nation was doubly adamant about leaving the cornfield.

"This is a strange place," Iceland said firmly, fixing his hair. "A place where crazy shrubbers steal people's trees, where crazy bowls go on the attack, where crazy mattresses eat people…no thanks, this is no place for me. Better Denmark than this. At least I know where I stand with _him_."

"Yes. On the _gallows_," Norway snapped.

"Slightly more stable ground than here."

"Until the trap door falls!"

"Well…I'll worry about that when I come to it," Iceland decided, and continued through the corn.

It turned out that they were quite near the edge of the cornfield. Within a matter of moments they emerged from the shadowed darkness of the cornfield into the moonlit dimness of the adjoining field of grass. And as though it had been planned, Denmark chanced to be nearby.

The country was quick to bring out his axe.

"You're under arrest."

Iceland was having a thought.

"You know…at least the salad bowl is nonfatal."

Denmark blinked.

"What?"

Norway groaned.

"You changed your mind? All that, and now you've _changed your mind_?"

Iceland shrugged elaborately.

"A l'ttle l'te now," Sweden mumbled.

Iceland shrugged again.

"Well, faced with the actual fact of dealing with stupid Denmark—"

"Stupid?" Denmark was insulted. "I'm just carrying out my duty as a highly successful ruler, and-"

"I thought it was brother," Iceland interrupted.

"It's a highly successful ruler," Denmark said firmly.

"I thought it was brother."

"It's a highly successful ruler!" Denmark snapped.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!" The Dane took a deep breath. "Now. I am carrying out my duty. I am not bloody—"

"You want to hang me. That seems rather bloody from where I'm standing." Iceland frowned. "And kind of strange too…I'm having another thought."

"Wonderful," Norway muttered.

"Now see here, Denmark," Iceland said jauntily, hands elaborately gesturing, "I want to know something. What I want to know is…what is _with_ you?"

Denmark blinked, looking mildly affronted.

"What?"

"What is this obsession with hunting me down and hanging me? It isn't healthy. Sign of a diseased mind. And furthermore," Iceland continued, "why are you even bothering to hunt me down, when you let me go beforehand? You let me declare my independence, and you send a letter of congratulations, but now you're after me? Doesn't make a lot of—"

"Icel'nd, stop," Sweden interrupted hastily, appearing alarmed.

Iceland shot him half a look.

"I just want to know why it is he's after my neck, I've got a right to know that, haven't I? Especially when it's inconsis—"

"Icel'nd, I said, _st'p_!"

The nation shot him a full look.

"I'm just asking! Because it's not in order with—"

"Iceland, _shut up_!"

Iceland positively reeled. He stared at Sweden, shocked.

"The world is ending. Sweden just _yelled_ at me to—" He looked around somewhat wildly. "He just told me to—" His gaze landed on Norway. "_Sweden_ just _yelled_ at me to _shut up_! I'm_ an independent nation_! I don't have to stand for this!"

Sweden sighed.

"Icel'nd…"

"You stay in character and keep your mouth shut!" Iceland ordered, and turned his attention back to Denmark; though from the furious expression on his face he wasn't quite done with Sweden.

"Now, Denmark, _I just want to know_—"

"Icel'nd!"

"I'm not speaking to you," The teenage nation said icily.

Sweden threw up his hands. He sighed, regaining his temper. "Now, Ic'land…"

Iceland didn't say anything. Just glared. And a glare from Iceland is a powerful thing.

Sweden forged ahead anyway.

"D'n't you real'ze wha't you're d'ing? You're pointing out the f'tal fl'w in the story. If you finish asking th't, you'll s'nd the whole plotline tumbling d'wn around our ears!"

Iceland considered.

"You're right!" You know what? For being a bit scary, you're not so bad after all!"

"Th'nks," Sweden said dubiously.

"Can we get back to the point?" Denmark interrupted "This is _so far off topic_…"

"Doesn't bother me, does it bother you?"

"Do you really think you can talk your way out of this?" Denmark asked incredulously.

"Depends. Do I have a fair shot at talking my way out of being hanged?"

"Hung," Norway said.

Iceland blinked at him.

"What?"

"Hung. The past tense of 'hang' is 'hung.'"

"But when you're talking about the gallows, the word you want is 'hanged,'" The silver haired nation argued.

"I don't know, Iceland. 'Hung' is grammatically correct."

"Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically, I don't care. It's _hanged_! Trust me. I know about the gallows," Iceland said firmly.

"That is something of which I have _no_ doubt," Denmark snapped. "And whatever you want to call it, it's going to happen."

"Are you in a bad mood, Your Bossiness?" Iceland asked politely.

It clearly was a great act of will for Denmark to keep from hitting Iceland over the head with his axe.

"_Yes_. Between the elephant and the harpoon—"

Iceland's eyes positively lit up.

"Were you hit by a harpoon?"

Denmark's glare was a pretty clear answer.

"I told you," Iceland informed Sweden. "I hit a whale."

Sweden looked at Norway, then looked at Denmark, then looked at Iceland.

"Um, I d'n't think D'nmark is kn'wn for whales. Norway is."

"Of course not," Iceland said firmly. "Norway is a _Norwhale_."

Sweden stared at him for a long, long moment. And then he cracked up. Sweden. _Laughing. _It was now apparent that this cornfield business had affected all of the countries' personalities.

"This is ridiculous," Denmark muttered.

"I rather have to agree with you," Norway put in, confirming the personality-affected theory and supporting the still-laughing Sweden.

Denmark frowned, pointed his axe at Iceland, and finally managed to say what he had been trying to say for five minutes.

"You, Iceland, are now under my control."

Iceland drew himself up indignantly and glared at Denmark.

"You have no right to arrest me!"

"I'm older."

"And I declare you null and void in my borders!" Iceland paced up and down passionately, spouting whatever came into his head. "The authority of the navy comes from the will of the people! I hereby withdraw that will, and therefore remove your authority. And since I've removed your authority, you have no authority to question my authority to remove your authority. And after all, to be or not to be is the question, whether to take arms against a sea of troubles! Furthermore, the square root of x2 is x, and Don John should never be confused with John Donne, as opposed to John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Marshall, John Smith, and Abraham Lincoln. And do you realize that Mark is the shortest gospel, and that the capital of Belice is Belmopan? And do you further realize that Mr. Spock has a last name, though few people are aware of it, four score and seven years ago, desktop publishing has nothing to do with publishing desks, and—and—and _lactic acid_!" Iceland concluded triumphantly.

Everyone stared at him for a long, long moment.

"Right," Denmark said finally. "Now, you're under my control for—"

There was a thunk, and Denmark pitched forward to hit the ground face-first. Superbowl whizzed by, the squeaky voice loudly announcing that if one were to look up in the sky, one would not see a knife.

"That was _wonderful_ timing," Iceland proclaimed.

"Apparently the salad bowl is good for something," Norway mused.

"The question becomes, what do we do _now_?" Iceland's brow furrowed in deep thought. "I could make a break for my ship."

"I d'n't think so, Icel'nd," Sweden disagreed, recovered from his laughing fit. "Finland and an unspecified number of soldiers are still out there."

"Oh yes, forgot about them." Iceland frowned. "I guess it's back to the cornfield. Possibly _forever_," he concluded dramatically.

"D'nmark w'n't be out h're f'rever," Sweden mumbled. "We kn'w he's already had a b'd encounter with a h'rpoon and a s'lad b'wl."

"That's right," Norway agreed. "He's going to give the whole thing up as a bad business soon."

"Good point. But until then…the cornfield's my beat, and I'm walking it." With that, Iceland swaggered off towards the corn.

Sweden and Norway looked at him, looked at each other, and shrugged in unison.

"M'ybe one of us sh'uld keep an eye on h'm," Sweden concluded. "Do you w'nt to st'y and try to t'lk some s'nse into Denm'rk when he w'kes up?"

"All right. But be careful in there," Norway said sternly. "That's a very strange cornfield."

"I know. And I will." And with that Sweden followed Iceland back into the shadowy corn.

This left Norway to wait for Denmark to wake up. Tired of standing, Norway sat down on a conveniently placed davenport.

"_Get off me_!" Denmark said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Norway quickly stood up. "Thought you were a couch."

"What?"

The magical nation shrugged apologetically. "It's dark."

"I think you've been spending too much time with Iceland," Denmark muttered. "You're getting daft like him."

"There's nothing wrong with being daft like Iceland."

Denmark's eyebrow rose.

"Right."

"I really think you'd like him. If you got to know him, I mean. Instead of always trying to hang him."

"He's _mine_."

"And a good man," Norway responded immediately.

Denmark ignored that.

"I could prosecute you and Sweden for aiding him, and for interfering in the carrying out of justice."

Norway blinked. "Keep in mind that Iceland's MY little brother."

"What did I do to deserve this?" Denmark muttered.

"Absolutely nothing! Which is why I recommend you go back to the village and leave Iceland alone. We'll make sure he leaves. I promise."

"I must carry out my duty," Denmark said stiffly.

Norway sighed. "I hate you, Denmark. Why must you do something so _stupid_?"

"I must carry out my duty," Denmark repeated firmly. "Excuse me. I am going to go find my men."

Denmark started across the field, intending to search for Finland and the unspecified number of soldiers. This presented his back to Norway. He hefted the rock he had picked up during his brief moment of sitting, and hit Denmark in the back of the head. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, for the second time in ten minutes.

"I'm sorry, Denmark," Norway informed him. "I _do_ like you. I just happen to like you least between you, Iceland and Sweden. Maybe it's the hair."

**A/N**:Whew! That's done! So how do you guys like it? The next review goal is 62!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	15. 15: Iceland is on the Run

"That was really funny, Sandy!" Finland gasped, trying to contain his laughter. I gave him a sad smile. The story was actually raising my mood, until Denmark came in. Then they just came crashing down to the floor again.

I got up from my chair in the kitchen to go to my room, a private place where I could grieve in peace.

I was in the living room, watching TV. Sweden, Norway, and Finland were with me, but Iceland was nowhere to be found. It was pitch black out; only the outlines of the trees and other houses could be seen. Suddenly Iceland burst into the room, fear and panic clear in his eyes.

"I have to go," he said frantically. "Like, now." He was showing rare emotion, and making evident.

"What's going on?" Finland asked. Sweden nodded in agreement.

"I saw a black van come down the road. The driver saw me, and did this:" Iceland held up two fingers and pointed at his eyes, then twisted his hand to face the other direction. "He wasn't one of your siblings, Sandy, but I think he's part of their group. I don't think knows if the rest of us are here."

"Well, you have to run somewhere!" I exclaimed. Iceland's fear was contagious. I noted with annoyance that my eyes were beginning to water again. Dang it, I didn't have time to get emotional! I needed to protect the countries now, and they only way to do it was to get Iceland somewhere safe for now.

The doorbell rang and all of our eyes widened in fear.

"Quick, I'll stall them for as long as I can," I said as I stood up. "Sweden, Finland, Norway, I want you to hide. Iceland, go through the back door. Stay close to the tree line and as soon as you get back into the wheat field, go straight into the woods." Iceland nodded and we all walked (well, more like ran) in our separate ways, the other three countries going up the stairs. Iceland paused right before entering the kitchen where the back door was. He looked back at me with frightened expression on his face and I gave him a reassuring smile. "Once you get into the woods, keep going straight. Whatever you do, _don't look back._" I told him. He gulped but nodded nonetheless. "If you keep going straight for about ten minutes, you'll come to a small clearing. A little ways beyond that is the property line that leads into the backyard of the people that owns the wheat field. If you have to, go past the rope and hide in the barn behind the house. And if it gets really bad, steal one of the horses and ride over to the lake nearby and hide in the admissions office." Iceland nodded and I gave him my cell phone. "I'll call you as soon as I get rid of them, but I want you to call me after a little while so I know that you're safe."

Iceland nodded again and began to run down the stairs as the doorbell rang again and a fierce pounding sounded on the door. At the bottom of the stair case, he turned around to look at me. "Thank you," he whispered before taking off into the night. I nodded after he ran away and clenched my teeth. I took a deep breath and walked up to the front door.

As soon as I opened it, a man dressed in a dark black suit stepped in and brought out a badge. Behind him was a group of about six people all similarly dressed. The man looked around briefly, staring at myself from behind black sunglasses and leaning forward to see past me and into the living room, then cracked his knuckles and turned back to me.

"Where is the personification of Iceland?" he questioned. His hard, deep masculine voice sent shivers down my spine. I stood up straighter and stiffened, determined not to let this man intimidate me.

"He left to go shopping for me," I said simply. It was a terrible lie, and the man knew it. He scowled and motioned for his men to come in. All at once, they barged into the house and began searching. I saw Finland, Sweden, and Norway peek down from on the stairs, and I gave them a glare. Without a sound, they retreated.

"You have no right to barge into my house and search for someone that isn't here," I said hotly. "Who are you anyway?"

"We are members of the NCPE," he replied gruffly.

"And what is that supposed to stand for?" My foot tapped against the carpeted floor impatiently.

"The National Country Personification Eliminator."

"Kind of an ironic name."

"We are here to make sure that the personifications of countries are terminated so they don't corrupt any other national government and take charge of the presidents or prime ministers and such with their twisted, sick minds. Now, please reveal the personification of Iceland so we can dispose of it properly."

I scoffed. "You mean kill?"

The man sighed. "These beings are extraterrestrial. There is no judging what they might do next."

"You people disgust me." I spat. "Get out of here right now, Iceland's not here!"

The man looked around the main floor once again, and noticed the back door in the kitchen unlocked and slightly ajar. He grinned smugly. "Men!" All of the men he came with came running around the corner. "Search the woods behind the house. I've found him." He smirked at me and followed his men outside. They piled in their truck and backed out of my driveway, then sped down the street. I slammed the door behind them after screaming "And don't you _dare _come back!" and sat down on the stairs, breathing heavily. Norway sat down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Do you think Iceland is okay?" I asked. Norway looked down at his feet and sighed, feeling my whole body shake with fear.

"I don't know. But you told him you would call when you managed to get them out of the house, so why don't we do that right now?"

Finland, who was behind me, nodded in agreement and we got up to go to the kitchen. I picked up the phone on the coffee table and breathed nervously as I dialled my cell phone's number. I held my breath as I waited for Iceland to pick up, and when he finally did, I sighed in relief.

"Iceland? Are you okay?" I asked, my voice holding a panicked tone. It surprised me actually; I had been so calm when I explained to Iceland his escape route, and now I was freaked out. Well, it was probably because those men had found out where he was going and were now chasing him. Yeah, that was probably it. "The NCPE is coming after you. That's the name of the group. I managed to get them away from the house, but because the leader dude or whatever saw the back door open a little, and they're heading into the woods and looking for you as we speak."

"_Okay," _he said, sounding surprisingly calm. _"I'm in the barn right now. I'll try to lay low and hide in the hay for now, but if they come to close I'll-" _The sound of doors being kicked open came through the phone followed by yelling. Iceland fell silent and I resisted the urge to ask what was going on. If Iceland wanted to get out of there, he needed absolute silence, and if I messed it up by speaking, then it could be the difference between life and death. I put a finger over my lips and Sweden, Norway, and Finland nodded.

There was a bit more yelling and suddenly, a gunshot sounded. I froze as I heard Iceland grunt in pain and then the line went dead.

"What happened?" Finland asked. I brought the phone down slowly from my ear and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my cheeks. I slammed the phone on the receiver and crumpled to the floor. Hugging my knees to my chest, I sobbed and buried my face behind my legs.

Iceland had been shot. He was shot by the NCPE and now he was dead.

Norway slid to the floor after a few moments of thinking and hugged me. Then Finland crouched down to hug both of us. Pretty soon all of us except Sweden were crying, but we all stopped abruptly when the house phone shrilled loudly.

My heart seemed to stop. Suddenly, everything around me was quiet, and the only thing making noise was the phone. I stood up slowly and checked the caller ID.

It was my cell phone.

Norway practically ripped the phone off the receiver. "Iceland?" He asked frantically. "Iceland, are you okay?"

There was silence, followed by heavy breathing. Suddenly, a deep laughter almost like a growl came from the other line. _"The little prick got away,"_ the person hissed.

My eyes widened. It was the man who had first come into the house. I grabbed the phone from Norway to prevent him to talk more into the phone, thus revealing that he was also here with me. "What the heck did you do to Iceland?" I demanded. "Answer me you…you jerk!"

The man chuckled coldly. _"Listen, I don't know where you told him to go, but know this: I will find him. I will find all of them and I will kill them. You won't even notice when they're gone."_

"You lie," I shot back. "The countries are not harmful. And you'll never find him, not if I can help it."

"_We'll see,"_

The man hung up and I slammed the phone on the receiver angrily. He didn't know anything about the countries. They weren't going to corrupt any government. Obviously, these people and my siblings had an extreme imagination.

My mouth set in a grim line; I walked briskly over to the front door and put on my shoes. Finland followed me curiously with the other three countries and watched me as I pulled on my jacket.

"Where are you going?" he asked. I smiled reassuringly at them both and grabbed my car keys.

"You guys coming or what? Iceland needs our help."

Finland smiled and nodded his head. The Nordics mimicked him and I smiled. We headed out to the garage and into the car, and when we were all buckled and ready to go, I floored the gas and sped down the road to the lake.

It was time to find Iceland.

**A/N**: YAAAYY! Iceland's still alive! But for how long? Find out next week in chapter 16! The review goal for this week is 65.


	16. 16: To the Rescue!

The car was silent as we drove down to the lakeside. Sweden sat next to me sullenly looking out the window and I kept my eyes on the road. Even Finland was being unusually quiet. Nobody spoke, because we were all thinking the same thing.

Iceland was in trouble and we needed to find him now.

Which is probably why I'm freaking out so much right now, but silently trying to hide it.

Sweden looked at me hesitantly from the corner of his eyes. "S'ndy?" he asked. I stole a glance at him briefly and then permanently fixed my eyes to the road.

"What's wrong, Sweden?"

"Are you s're Icel'nd's at the l'ke?"

I smiled. "Trust me. If Iceland had any sense whatsoever, he'd take my advice and hide out at the office there. I told him to take the neighbour's horse and ride over there if he got into trouble, didn't I?"

Sweden nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

"I hope he's okay," Norway mused.

I frowned. "He'll be fine," I reassured him, but I wasn't even sure myself. "He's got you for a family, remember? Family looks out for each other, and if he's hurt, we'll just make him better again. You'll see. Everything will be fine."

Norway fell silent and I could just picture the worried look on the usually emotionless nation. Everything will be fine, I told myself. Everything was fine after the first beach incident, so everything would be fine now.

"Why did you say 'you' when you referred to 'family'?" Finland asked suddenly. My brows furrowed.

"Because you're his family."

"You're part of the family, too!"

"No I'm not. I'm not a country. I'm not related to you guys in any way."

"So? Only Iceland and Norway are related. Sweden, Denmark, and I are still included. You care for us, right?"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed.

"A family cares for each other," Finland countered. "You're part of it."

I fell silent, feeling extremely grateful, and a warm, fuzzy feeling grew in my stomach.

We pulled up in the lake's parking lot a few minutes later and I saw a dark brown horse tethered to the fence that separated the parking lot and the sand. I recognized it immediately as my neighbour's horse, so Iceland must've been close by. I pointed this out to Norway and he brightened up considerably. Right next to us was a small brick building that served as the admissions office to the beach. You came here to get a seasonal pass, and every time you came you had to show the pass to the person in the window. It was night time, nobody was even at the beach except for us, and so the building would be empty of employees.

I walked up to the door and knocked on it quietly.

"Iceland? Are you in there?" There was silence. I tried to turn the handle, but something was wedged under it so it couldn't be turned. "Iceland, it's me, Sandy. I'm here to take you home."

There was the sound of shifting coming from the other side. Something was dragged across the floor and then suddenly, the door opened just a crack and one of Iceland's blue eyes was peering out nervously.

"Sandy?" he whispered. It broke my heart to see him so scared, but then I felt relieved to know that he was okay. I smiled and nodded by head, and lifted my hand to push the door open.

Iceland timidly crept out, glancing feverishly around the area. I grabbed his arm, noting how he flinched when I did, and led him back to my car. "I need to get you to a hospital _now. _You got shot, didn't you?"

Iceland nodded grimly and got into the passenger seat. The other nations quickly got in behind me. When all the doors were closed, I turned on the car and drove out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the nearest hospital.

"He shot me in the shoulder," Iceland said as he gripped his left shoulder. His face contorted in pain as we went over a bump. I turned back to the road and sighed. We had to risk taking him to a hospital, and hope the doctors wouldn't ask questions. They couldn't find out he was a country, they couldn't even know that he existed! They would inform the government, and everything we tried would be fruitless.

"The nearest hospital should be in the next big city. What province are we in?" Finland asked.

"Alberta. The nearest city is Red Deer."

If Finland had water, I'm sure he would've spit it out in shock. "You're that far down? No wonder the town is so small!"

"Red Deer is 145 kilometres away. Even if I took Highway 2, it would take an hour to get there. I don't think you want a bullet in your arm for an hour."

"Well, it's the only thing we've got," Norway pitched in. "What do you think, little brother?"

Iceland shrugged, but it only made him wince in pain. He squeezed his shoulder tightly and I could see the blood steadily oozing out of it. Finland pondered the situation for a minute and looked at Iceland with concern. Even if the doctors did ask questions, it wouldn't really matter because Iceland needed help right away. Iceland and Norway exchanged looks and nodded. I looked at them confused. What were they thinking? Did they figure out what to do?

"I say we go to Red Deer," Norway said. "At least the people there will know what to do."

Iceland nodded in agreement. "I say we go to Red Deer, too."

"You guys are crazy!" I exclaimed. "Do you know how long you're going to sit there and suffer? No," I shook my head. "There's no way I'm letting you suffer that long."

"Sandy…" Iceland put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Iceland, ready to start crying again, and the pleading look in his eyes made it harder. "Please. Let's just go to Red Deer."

I hesitated for a moment but then finally sighed and continued driving. I should trust Iceland; he's injured after all, and if going down up to Red Deer made him comfortable, than why should I force him somewhere he's not going to like being at?

"Alright, we'll go to Red Deer. But," I said sternly, looking at him from the corners of my eyes. "I better not hear you complaining the whole ride there. You're the one who wanted to go, so it's your fault if you have to suffer that long."

Iceland just grunted and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm getting tired anyway. I think I'll take a nap."

I reached over and slapped him across the face.

His eyes widened and his head whipped to the side. He looked at me fearfully but then glared. "What was that for?" he yelled.

"I was trying to keep you awake, idiot! You could die of blood loss if you fall asleep bleeding!"

Iceland fell silent. Finland shifted in his seat awkwardly and Norway coughed. Iceland looked down at his lap. "Oh, I...I didn't know..."

I sighed. "It's not your fault. It_ was_ uncalled for." I leaned over to the glove compartment again and took out a few napkins. "Here," I said as I handed them to Iceland. "Keep them pressed firmly against the wound. It'll help stop the blood flow."

Iceland pressed the napkins to his shoulder and looked at me intently. I kept my eyes on the road, aware of his gaze, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence as we drove into the early hours of the morning into Red Deer.

* * *

When we finally reached the city, it was about two o'clock in the morning. Iceland had eventually fallen asleep but I had some comfort knowing his wound had stopped bleeding. Norway was dozing, his head lolling forwards. Finland was asleep with his head resting against the shoulder of Sweden, who was asleep as well. It was such a cute picture! I took out my phone and quickly snapped a picture of the sleeping nations behind me. I felt a twinge of guilt, as I glanced worriedly at Iceland. His cheek was resting against the window sill and his right hand was in his lap loosely clutching a wad of bloody napkins. His left arm was hanging down between the seat and cup holders, the fabric of his coat near his shoulder torn and bloody. I shuddered and my stomach twisted at how pale he looked. He needed help and he needed it fast. He could _not_ die on me right now!

A few minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and drove around to the back. A sign that read "Entrance" in big red letters gave off a small amount of light. As if we don't already know where the entrance is. It was just enough to illuminate the walkway without attracting attention to itself, and beyond the glass doors I could see a woman sitting behind a desk. I quickly unbuckled myself and leaned over to wake up Iceland.

"Iceland," I whispered. I shook his shoulder, careful not to touch his wound, and ruffled his hair a bit. His hair was actually very silky, and I sat for a moment just feeling it with my fingers before I realized I was wasting time. "Iceland, we're here."

There was no response.

"Iceland," I said a little louder. "Wake up, we're at the hospital."

The nation was stone still and didn't make a sound.

I leaned over some more to get a good look at his face. He was extremely pale, but his face looked peaceful. I couldn't see his chest rising or falling and suddenly, I began to panic. I gripped his good shoulder and shook him violently, not caring if I was hurting him. "Iceland!" I said loudly. Behind me, Norway stirred. "Iceland, wake up!"

"Mmm, what's going on?"

"Iceland's not waking up!" I cried, turning to him with tears in my eyes. I look of shock passed over his face but he quickly calmed himself. I stared at him in disbelief. How could he be so calm when Iceland was _dead?_

Norway noticed my fear and put a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down," he said. "He's not dead. He's Iceland; he wouldn't die without a fight."

I sniffed and glanced at Iceland again. Now that I looked closer, I could see his chest rising slightly. As if to prove a point, his eyes suddenly fluttered open and he looked at me confusedly.

"Sandy?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

I couldn't contain the overwhelming relief that washed over me at that moment. I grabbed him into a tight hug and sobbed into his good shoulder. He didn't hug me back, probably because he was still tired and shocked, but I didn't care. All that mattered was that he was alive.

"Oh thank God!" I exclaimed between sobs. "You...you idiot! You had me worried sick! I thought you died!"

"What?" Iceland asked. "I'm fine. Where are we?"

I pulled away, an embarrassed red tinge on my cheeks. "We're at the hospital. Come on, let's go in."

"What time is it?"

I hesitated. "...Early."

Iceland shrugged and opened the car door and staggered out. I quickly got out and woke up Sweden and Finland, and then Norway got out and led us to the front door. We entered rather calmly, much to my protest that Iceland needed help _now_, and approached the woman behind the counter. She looked up when she heard our footsteps and smiled, seemingly unaware of the blood covering Iceland's entire left arm and my hands.

"Welcome to the Red DeerHospital. How may I help you?" she greeted in an annoying, high pitched voice. I rolled my eyes and pushed Iceland forward.

"He's been shot."

"Oh you poor thing!" she said sympathetically. To me, it sounded forced and fake. Almost mocking. "I'll call Dr. Turowski right now. Please take a seat over there." She gestured to a row of comfy looking chairs against the wall.

I almost exploded. "He has been _shot._ This is an _emergency!_ Can't he go to the ER like, right now?"

The lady shook her head, her smile never faltering. "Please wait, ma'am. The doctor will be with you shortly." She picked up her clipboard and, with a wide, unnatural grin, walked down the hallway and out of sight.

I stomped over to the chairs and sat down with a huff. "What a..." I started, but trailed off for lack of a bad enough term without resorting to swears.

"It's okay," Iceland muttered as he sat down next to me. He leaned back in his chair, wincing as he accidentally bumped his shoulder into the armrest, and turned to me as if to say something. Before he could even open his mouth, however, that annoying receptionist's heels came clacking down the hallway, followed by another set of heavy footsteps. A few moments passed and around the corner came the lady and an old man dressed in a white lab coat. His black hair was slicked back and he had a pair of glasses resting on his nose. The man came over to me and I stood up and shook his hand firmly. His hands were rough, but his smile was gentle and warm. He turned and eyed Iceland, obviously looking at his shoulder, when suddenly his face darkened.

"Shot?" he said quietly. He had a slight Polish accent to his voice.

" Yes," I replied. The doctor shook his head. "People these days." Then the doctor's eyes widened. "Oh! Please forgive me for not properly introducing myself. My name is Adam Turowski."

"Sandy Harbrough," I replied. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"So," the doctor said awkwardly. He motioned for Iceland to get up. "If you'll just follow me to the operation room, I can take that bullet out in no time."

Iceland nodded and followed the doctor down a hallway. He looked back once and gave us a reassuring look, and then he turned around a corner and was gone.

I turned back to the receptionist. "How long is the operation going to take?" She shrugged.

"Depends on how deep the bullet went in." She smiled when she saw my panicked face. "Relax, he'll be fine. Dr. Turowski has dealt with situations similar to this plenty of times."

"That's not a good thing,"

The receptionist sighed. "I know."

* * *

About an hour and a half later, Iceland was lead back to the waiting room by Dr. Turowski. He held on to the doctor's arm and swayed back and forth on his feet, almost falling over a few times. When he walked into the waiting room and collapsed on the chair next to me, it was evident that he was absolutely smashed with drugs.

"Hey," he said, his words slurred. He lifted his good arm weakly and poked my cheek. "You're face looks funny..."

I looked at the doctor accusingly. "How much sedative did you give him?"

Dr. Turowski shuffled and looked at Iceland with amusement clear on his face. "Just enough to keep him asleep while I removed the bullet. Everything went well."

"That's a relief," I breathed.

"Make sure to change his bandages twice a day and apply this cream to the area." He handed me a tube of disinfectant cream as well as a package of bandages and smiled. "He should be healed in no time. But for right now, his mind's a little fuzzy from the drugs. Don't take anything he says seriously. He's not thinking straight."

As if to demonstrate, Iceland looked deep in thought as poked his face. "Do I really exist?" he asked.

I stifled a laugh and helped him to his feet. "Come on, that's it. One step at a time. Lukas, can you help Emil to the car while I talk with the doctor for a minute?" Norway nodded and took Iceland by the arm and started for the door. I turned back to the doctor. "So, how much is this going to cost?" Might as well get right to the point.

Dr. Turowski smiled. "I'll mail you the bill. Your address please?" I gave him my address and he wrote it down on a pad of paper, and then shook my hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, although I wish we could have met under different circumstances."

I chuckled. "Yeah, the last couple of days have been quite interesting. Thank you so much for treating him; I was worried sick." I shook the doctor's hand and was on my way out the door. As soon as I walked through the door, I ran for the car. Iceland and the other nations were already buckled in, and I quickly got into the driver's seat. I turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot, then turned on the road leading to the highway. The journey home was going to be long, but now that I knew Iceland was going to be okay, I could relax and my mind would be at peace.

About an hour into the drive, Iceland looked at me with half lidded eyes. "Hey, Sandy?" he slurred, still loopy from the sedatives. I suppressed a giggle and glanced at him briefly.

"What is it, Iceland? Are you feeling okay?"

"M'fine," he mumbled, sounding almost exactly like Sweden. He sat up straight in his seat and played with his bandages absentmindedly. "M'sorry."

I gave him a confused look. "What? Say that a little louder; I couldn't hear you."

"I'm sorry."

Oh...well, that was unexpected. "For what?" I asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"M'sorry I got you worried."

I gave him a small smile. "You don't have to apologize, you were just scared."

"But I mean it! It was stupid o' me to...to get you involved in this. But it does mean that we're sorta like a family, because you came after me."

I don't know why, but tears were welling up in my eyes. I gave Iceland a warm, sincere smile, and turned back to the road.

"Thank you, Iceland."

Don't take anything he says seriously, huh? I know you're supposed to follow a doctor's advice, but this was one piece of advice I wasn't going to take.

**A/N**: WOO! We're done this chapter! I recently read the fanfic Gutters, and I seem to be the only person who hasn't cried reading chapter 19. I have no soul. Whatever. The next review goal is 70!


	17. 17: Someone Finally Cracks

We walked into my house, exhausted from our little escapade. Norway supported Iceland down the stairs to their rooms. Iceland was still a bit loopy from the drugs; I could tell that because he said right before they went down into the basement

"Is this real life? Big brother, why do I have 7 fingers?"

I stifled a laugh. Norway, despite being emotionless, looked absolutely delighted at Iceland finally calling him 'big brother'.

Slowly, I walked up the stairs into my room. I changed into my pajamas slowly, thinking about the past few hours. Now that the adrenaline wore off, the past events and the time hit me like a rock. I could just feel myself getting heavy with exhaustion. I collapsed onto my bed, and in like, 2 seconds, I fell asleep. That was a really bad place to put the word 'like' in there. It just ruined the moment. Lesson for today, readers: Never put a 'like' in there, when your story is getting serious or sentimental. It just isn't right.

Anyway, I woke up the next morning extremely tired, but it was 10 o' clock, and I couldn't go back to sleep. It was also the longest I have ever slept in. I quickly changed out of my pajamas and meandered down the stairs into the kitchen. Sweden was making breakfast this time, Finland was hovering over his shoulder, Norway was reading, and Iceland was sitting at the table with a bottle of aspirin next to him.

"How're ya feeling, Iceland?" I asked, slipping into a chair across from him. The nation groaned in response and added

"My head's going to explode."

"Well, now you know how Denmark feels every single morning," Norway pitched in, not looking up from what he was reading. I stiffened at the mention of Denmark, and the nations noticed it. Norway sighed, putting his book down, and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Sandy, you can't dwell upon this. I know you're worried about Denmark, but you'll just have to hold on until we figure something out."

"Then why haven't we done something?" I asked, my voice rising in volume. "We have had plenty of free time in the past day. All you do is sit on the couch and read, acting as if there's nothing wrong, that Denmark was never here in the first place! Don't you care a least a little bit for him?!"

"No."

"You know what?! I've had it. I'm sick of everything not getting done while Denmark is God knows where, ready for slaughter like a pig! It's a miracle if he's not already dead yet! I seem to be the only one here who cares about him, so I guess I'll get him on my own!"

I strode toward the front door, blinded by anger. I ignored Finland's shouts to come back, and when Sweden grabbed my arm, I threw him off. I wrenched open the door and slammed it behind myself. Then I ran. I ran off my driveway and down the street. I didn't bother to take the car. I didn't know where I was going. I just ran. I had to get away from them. I had to go find Denmark. Turning a corner, I glanced back at my house. There were no nations chasing after me. Good. I disappeared into the forest and kept running. Trees were a blur as they sped past me, and the dull thud of my footsteps were drowned out by the rushing sound in my ears. I almost ran into a few trees, but I just hopped around them and continued running. Eventually, though, my adrenaline wore out, and I collapsed on the forest floor, overly exhausted. By now, I had no idea where I was, or how long I had been running, or how close I was to the tree line. Judging by how close the thick trees were together, I guessed I was pretty far in.

I was laying face-down in the light layer of snow, gasping for breath. My eye lids started to feel heavy as I absent-mindly traced a finger over a footprint. _Wait, footprint?_ Someone had been here, and very recently in fact. But I had neither energy nor strength to pull myself up, so instead I succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

It was late when I woke up. The bit of the sky I could see through the treetops was splattered with red, orange, and yellow. There was no sound. The silence pressed down on my ears. I slowly picked myself up and went in the direction of the footprint, shivering slightly and brushing snow off of myself.

The farther I walked, the more plentiful the prints became, until the whole ground was patted down with them. _There must be something here_, I thought. Eventually I came to a tall wire fence, almost three times as tall as Sweden. Behind the fence was a huge metal facility. I wondered how long this building had been here, if anyone knew it was here, and maybe this building was constructed by the author at the last second because her motto is 'Procrastination for the win!' Before I could break the fourth wall even more, I decided to forget about it for the time being, and figure out how to get in.

I gripped the metal of the fence and hoisted my feet through the spaces in the wire. Luckily, the fence was not electrical. I inched my way to the top, and swung my leg over, and started my descent. My hands started burning about halfway down. They slipped, and I fell to the ground. I grunted in pain, and I couldn't breathe for the fall had knocked the wind out of me. The snow didn't cushion my fall, for the layer of it was too light. A minute later, I got up and continued walking. I turned right and started sneaking around the building; there was no sign of anyone _anywhere_. There were no security guards, which surprised me the most. If I was able to get in by coming here by accident, then someone deliberately wanting to break in could do so easily. Then again, no one probably knew about this place, except for the people who work here, obviously.

It was just my luck, as I had come across an open window. _These people are_ idiots! I thought. Through the window was a hallway. Everything in this hallway was white. White roof, white walls, white floor. Everything was kept absolutely clean, and there was no one in the hallway. I climbed through the window and dropped to the ground with a quiet thud. The long hallway had multiple metal doors on either side, with no windows. I paused beside one and pressed my ear to the cool metallic surface, listening. Not hearing anything, I quickly lost interest and continued. I turned a corner, only to enter another hallway, exactly like the last one. I snuck down that one and came across a fork in the road. Metaphorically speaking, of course. I looked both ways. Everything was deserted, and both ways were _exactly the same_. I groaned inwardly and took the left. For another few minutes I blindly took corners, following hallway after hallway until I was thoroughly lost. Then I came across something interesting.

The hallway ended suddenly with another door. As I came closer, I realized that this was not the end of the hallway. It turned right, and then curved around. Curious, I turned both corners but immediately faltered back when I saw a window. This window looked in to a control room. This room had three people in it, with their backs turned to me. Two were male, and one was female. Both males had black hair, while the female had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. One of the males had dark skin. These three were decked out in white lab coats. They were peering intently at a computer screen, but what was on the screen, I couldn't tell, for they were blocking my view. I could see over their shoulders, though, and there was another window in the control room that led to another room, devoid of anything but a metal table tilted up slightly, and ten or so other people also decked out in lab coats. What really caught my attention was the table. What I saw on the table made me frightened, shocked, and nauseous. What was on the table was none other than Denmark.

**A/N:** Filler chapter is filler. Sorry it is so short, writer's block has hit me hard, and I NEED MORE TIME! Ahem. Everything's been really busy lately, what with Halloween and everything. Since I don't have a cosplay, and my parents think cosplay is stupid, I got myself together a Denmark costume, under the pretense that it's a Halloween costume, not a cosplay. I know. I'm so Loki like that. :3 I spiked up my hair like his yesterday, and I now I understand why Denmark likes his hair like that. Except that my hair's brown, but whatever. Wigs are so yesterday. Anyway, our review goal for this week is 70! See ya next time!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


	18. 18: I Love to Procrastinate

I nearly gasped aloud. I stumbled across a random building in the middle of the forest, and it was the one where they were keeping Denmark prisoner. What were the odds of that happening? Probably 1 in a hundred, but it actually happened. _Now, how do I get Denmark out of here? _I asked myself. I was totally not expecting this. Now I had to think of a makeshift plan to break Denmark out. Procrastination for the win.

I peeked back up through the window to see what the people in white lab coats, whom I assumed were researchers, were doing. They circled around Denmark, observing him, and then writing notes on their clipboards. Denmark was clasped down to the metal table by steel handcuffs it looked like, which were attached to the surface. His ankles and wrists were chained down, and I could see his knuckles turning white against all the strain. His body was also covered by two larger strips of metal, because the researchers didn't want to take any chances, I guessed. Over his mouth was a simple gag. The expression on his face was unreadable. Denmark would close his eyes and strain as hard as he could against the metal, but to no avail. Then he would open his eyes and rest for a bit, breathing heavily, glaring at the researchers.

One of the researchers reached out to Denmark and pulled his gag down. Denmark moved his head free of his reach as soon as the cloth was off. He growled out something to the man, which I assumed was an obscenity, but I couldn't hear very well because of the two thick walls that separated us. I strained my ears harder.

"Why are you here?" The man asked. He had slick black hair and a pair of stylish glasses resting on his nose. I could have sworn I had seen him before.

"Because we are," Denmark spat. The man sighed and started pacing around the table.

"Aside from the personifications of Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, are there any others?"

Denmark said nothing.

"Where were you currently living, and with who? What is her name, where does she work?"

"I can't give out personal information to a stranger. Common sense."

By now, I was panicking. The man had a slight Polish accent. _Where had I seen this guy before?_ Then it hit me. It was Dr. Adam Turowski, the one who healed Iceland when he got shot. _He was working for them all this time?! Did he figure out who Iceland was after we left the hospital?! _Turowski sighed and stop his pacing.

"Well, if we can't ask you nicely for answers, we'll just have to force them out of you. We need to know why you are what you are anyway." He waved a hand down to the three in the first room, and they nodded. The female clicked a few times on the computer, and a large metal machine descended from the ceiling. The researchers backed away from the table as the machine gave out bright flashes.

I felt like throwing up right then as I watched the torture. Denmark's face contorted as he screamed in anguish. It was inhuman. His screams made it into my heart, tearing every last string. It seemed unearthly, all as if it was a dream. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. To wake up in the morning to find that my siblings had not kidnapped Denmark, that Iceland had not been shot, that the seemingly friendly doctor was not a cold hearted-torturer, that everyone was fine, and that Finland had a plate full of pancakes and bacon waiting for me in the kitchen. I couldn't even reach down to pinch myself. I was paralyzed. I wanted to wake up. _But this was not a dream. _This was real life.

My heart tore as Denmark's howls echoed through my ears. He was in so much pain right now. I had to do something about it, to end his misery.

Luckily enough, the flashes and shocks stopped before I could do anything. Denmark lay weakly on the table, panting and shivering, for all the world looking like a stray puppy. Movement registered out of the corner of my eye.

The three researchers in the computer room were staring intently at a computer. The dark skinned male pointed at the screen, which had a picture of Denmark's body on it next to some extremely small text. The picture showed the inside of Denmark, all of his organs in grotesque detail.

"See? This here shows all of his organs exactly how they would be in a normal human and all of them function the same as a human's," The male was saying.

"So they're more like us then I thought," the woman murmured.

"There's nothing here that shows anything different than a normal human," the other male spoke through an intercom. The researchers in the testing room nodded distractedly, gazing at the spiky haired nation trying to recover from the shocks.

"Let's take a break," Turowski said, placing his clipboard on a wooden table shoved in a corner. The other researchers followed suit and left the room in single file. Then I realized I would be spotted. Jolting back to reality, I glanced around. Nothing but doors everywhere. I dashed to the closest one and tried the handle. Locked. I tried the next one. Locked. I could hear voices and footsteps coming closer. The next door was locked as well. Two more times I tried, until finally, the fifth door swung open. It was a broom closet. Two mops were leaning against the side, with an upturned bucket resting on the floor. I quickly jumped in and closed the door, save for a tiny fraction so I could peek out.

The researchers filed out and walked past me down the hall, probably discussing about how this person finally broke up with this person, because that person was an idiot, and they were SO not meant to be. Like, totally.

Anyway, as soon as their voices faded out, I cautiously peeked out of the closet and looked both ways. The hallways were yet again deserted. I darted out and open the door to the computer room and then closed it behind me. I bursted into the testing room, staring at Denmark worriedly. His head turned slowly at the sudden noise, and then his eyes widened.

"Sandy!" He exclaimed in utter surprise.

"Don't worry, I'm busting you outta here," I said, running up to the table. Despite my confident tone of voice, my vision was blurring with warm tears.

"You came for me." Denmark's voice was so soft, it was heartbreaking. I blinked a few times and swallowed hard. I couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears came running down my face as I replied just as softly

"You're family. We're all part of a team. We look out for each other." At that statement, Denmark smiled.

"Thanks," he whispered. I sniffed once, and then dried my eyes.

"Okay, back to business. Now, how do I get this undone?" I muttered, completely abandoning the emotions I was feeling and returned to my normal self, thus ruining the mood. You can blame the author.

"Sandy, how many times do we have to tell you to not to ruin the mood and break the fourth wall?" Denmark asked indignantly.

"Many more times, as long as this story goes on," I replied. "And stop reading my thoughts." Then the fourth wall concept was completely forgotten because some pretty cool magic word document stuff was happening on the computer screen, thanks to the almighty fanfiction god SpanishMonkeys.

Anyway, I tried to figure out how to get the clasps undone for quite a while. Then, softly, my ears detected the sound of a million footsteps and voices coming closer.

"Hurry up!" Denmark urged.

"I'm trying!" I exclaimed, my voice rising in panic. Just then, the doors opened. I dived under the wooden table in the corner and sat as still as possible, curled in on myself. The researchers filed in, talking quietly to one another. _That break was pretty short,_ I thought. Denmark was trying not to stare at me under the table, thus revealing my position. Then I realized that my place was going to be revealed anyway, for the researchers clipboards were on top of the table I was under. I glanced at Denmark as the researchers came closer. The nation was jerking his head toward the door. I shook my head. He jerked his head even more vigorously. I repeated my action. Then he gave me a look that was capable of rivaling Sweden's. My heart skipped a beat in fright. His head tiled forward, casting a shadow over his forehead. He lowered his eyebrows and looked up; giving the impression that he had no irises or pupils. A glint from the light that was not blocked by his forehead reflected off one of his eyes.

With tears streaming down my face, I bolted out from under the table just as a researcher was about to grab a clipboard. Someone shouted and the whole room erupted into chaos. I kept my head down as I dodged researchers' hands coming out to grab me from the left and right. I managed to get out into the hallway unharmed. I turned right and proceeded to take blind corners, praying to God that they were the right ways. Alarms wailed and red lights flashed, alerting the facility that there was an intruder. I covered my ears and sobbed. I had a phobia of loud noises, which propelled me to run even faster. I heard heavy footsteps thudding a ways behind me, indicating that there was a stampede of researchers on my tail.

Eventually I saw a window up ahead. I inwardly squealed with joy and kept running. I was already out of breath and cramps were beginning to form in my side. I stopped in front of the window to catch my breath. I glanced back. The researchers had just rounded a corner, and were speeding up as soon as they caught sight of me. I hoisted myself out of the open window and kept running, my feet making crunching noises in the snow. I mentally cursed the snow for leaving my footprints right there for all to see. I squinted as I ran, for I could see figures on the other side of the fence. As I came closer, I realized they were Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Norway yelling at me to hurry up and run faster. By now, I had reached the fence and had started to scale it. I reached the top and stopped. The ground looked so far away. I clung to the fence, too scared to move. The Nordics were now right below me and waving their arms frantically.

"Come on Sandy, jump!" Iceland yelled.

"I can't!" I yelled down, my eyes wide.

"Yes you can! Just jump! There's snow on the ground!"

"I don't have Russian logic!" I wailed. "I'll break my back!"

"No you won't! Just jump!"

By now the researchers were struggling to get out the window at the same time, their furious shouts filling the air. Finland came closer to the base of the fence and shouted with pleading eyes

"Please Sandy! Just jump! Sweden will be there to catch you!" To prove his point, Sweden stepped forward, his arms outstretched. I glanced down at him, and then at the researchers, which by now two had gotten out the window and were now running towards me. I looked back at Sweden and took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing_, I thought. I closed my eyes and jumped. I heard the wind rush past my ears, then a grunt as Sweden caught me in his arms. He set me down then said loud enough for everyone to hear

"Everyone, run." We didn't need to be told twice. We sprinted through the forest and out onto our street, eyes focused on hour safe home. We couldn't hear the researchers anymore, but that didn't stop us. We continued to dash to my house, ignoring stares from passersby. We wrenched open the door and piled in my house, slamming the door behind us. We promptly collapsed where we stood, gasping for breath. It felt like there was a weight on my chest, preventing me from breathing properly. I made quiet gasping sounds, unable to move. By now, the Nordics had caught their breath and were standing over me. They hadn't been running as long as I had. Plus, I had a lot less stamina then they did. I could feel the familiar heavy pull of sleep as all my adrenaline wore out. The Nordic's concerned faces soon got blurry, and then everything faded to black as I succumbed to the darkness.

**A/N:** Yay, that's done! It seemed like it took me two years to write this chapter because of my stupid writer's block. Oh well. :P Has anyone read Gutters? If you haven't, you should definitely check it out. If you have, good for you! I really seem to be the only one who has read it and hadn't felt the slightest bit sad. I have no soul. D: I'm turning into Norway. Anyway, the review goal for this week is 77!

Thnx,

SpanishMonkeys


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